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i  ALUMNI  LIBRARY, 

I    THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY, 

BF  885  .R3  R47  1836 
ReeseT-Bavid.  Meredith,  1800 

1861  .___^ — —"  ^^^^..^^ 

Phrenology  known  by^rts 

■F-rn  1  t-Q 


..•  A"^ 


PHRENOLOGY 

KM©WIM    BY    QT©    FKiOTip 

BEING 

A      BRIEF     REVIEW     OF 
DOCTOR    BRIGHAM'S    LATE    WORK, 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  RELIGION 
UPON  THE  HEALTH  AND  PHYSICAL  WELFARE  OF 
MANKIND." 


OF  NEW-YORK. 


♦•  There  seemeth  to  be  a  superfluity  of  books  —  but,  shell  no  mere  be  made  T 
Yea!  make  more  good  books  —  which,  like  the  ^eroeut  of  Moses,  may  devour 
the  serpenta  of  the  enchanters." — ^Lokd  Bacon. 


NEW-YORKi 
HOWE  &  BATES,  76  CHATHAM-STREET. 

1836. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1836,  by  David 
Meredith  Reese,  M.  D.,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Distiict  Court 
o£  the  Southern  District  of  New- York. 


eLATTON  &  BUCKINUHAM,  PRIITTERS, 

No.  0  Thomoc-street. 


TO 


THOMAS    SEWALL,    M.    D., 


PROFESSOR   OF    ANATOMY    AND   PHYSIOLOGY   IN   THE 
COLUMBIAN  COLLEGE  OF  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Dear  Sm — 

Your  well  known  hostility  to  the  whole  Phreno- 
logical fabric — because  of  your  well  founded  apprehen- 
sions of  its  deplorable  moral  influence — as  well  as  the 
profound  esteem  and  respect  I  have  always  entertained 
for  your  personal  and  professional  character,  have 
emboldened  me  in  the  dedication  of  this  humble  effort 
to  you. 

Accept,  Sir,  this  small  token  of  my  affectionate 
regard  and  friendship. 

DAVID  MEREDITH  REESE,  M.  D. 

New -York,  Octoher  \st,  1836. 


PREFACE 


The  author  of  the  following  pages,  having  more  than  once  had 
occasion  to  appear  before  the  public  in  the  unenviable  character 
of  a  poiemick,  had  become  weary  of  controversy.  With  increas- 
ing years,  he  had  thought  to  have  shielded  the  sword  of  wordy 
conflict  in  its  peaceful  scabbard,  and  whether  he  had  become 
wiser  or  not,  he  verily  thought  to  have  "learned  war  no  more." 
In  this  pacific  purpose  he  found  no  small  share  of  self  compla- 
cency, and  was  already  employing  his  leisure  hours  in  the  quiet 
avocations  of  reading  and  study,  preparatory  to  the  completion  of 
some  literary  efforts,  which  have  been  long  contemplated,  and 
still  lie  unfinished  upon  his  escritoir,  among  the  few  manuscripts 
which  his  time  and  opportunities  have  allowed  him  to  begin,  with 
no  other  result  than  to  "  report  progress." 

After  such  a  resolution  to  retreat  from  the  din  of  polemical 
strife,  some  explanation  of  the  motives  for  his  suddenly  emerging 
from  his  obscurity  is  due  to  his  friends,  to  whom  his  purpose  had 
been  communicated,  and  who  will  be  surprised,  and  some  of  them, 
perhaps,  grieved,  that  he  should  so  soon  buckle  on  his  armour. 
To  such  he  will  only  need  to  say,  that  the  work  of  Dr.  Brigham 
had  not  then  appeared,  which  has  called  forth  this  reply,  nor  was 
it  until  a  short  time  since,  that  it  came  under  his  notice.  His  at- 
tention was  first  directed  to  it,  by  a  distinguished  literary  friend, 
in  the  city  of  Washington,  who,  in  a  letter  referring  to  the  work, 
earnestly  urged  the  importance  of  an  early  antidote  to  the  moral 
poison  it  contained,  and  made  an  appeal  to  the  author,  for  a  prompt 
attempt  to  repel  this  assault  upon  both  medical  and  theological 
truth,  and  to  refute  the  heresies  it  contains  against  science,  as  well 
as  religion.  This  appeal  was  rendered  irresistible,  by  the  im- 
portunity of  other  judicious  friends,  who  overcame  all  scruples 
against  farther  controversial  v/riting,  by  alleging  that  the  minds 
of  the  young  and  rising  generation  would  readily  imbibe  the 
prejudices  against  religion  which  Dr.  B.'s  book  is  so  obviously 
calculated  to  inculcate,  coming  as  it  purports  to  do,  from  a  regu- 


6  PREFACE. 

larly  educated  physician,  and  shielded  from  suspicion  by  tlic  pre- 
text of  being  dictated  by  iiliilosophy  and  science,  and  under  the 
imposing  guise  of  a  "  profound  respect"  for  religion  itself.  And 
they  still  further  urged  the  writer  to  this  unwelcome  service,  by 
the  consideration  that  the  characterof  the  work  was  such,  embra- 
cing the  subjects  of  health  and  disease,  and  especially  by  reason 
of  the  observations  on  insanity,  that  none  but  a  physician  could 
be  appropriately  expected  to  reply  to  it.  Constrained  to  concur 
with  them  in  the  opinion  that  the  book  imperiously  called  for  an 
answer,  the  author  has  yielded  to  their  judgment,  rather  than  his 
own,  in  becoming  the  writer  of  the  following  pages,  but  not  until 
he  had  waited  several  months  in  vain,  in  the  hope  that  another 
would  undertake  it. 

Ever  aware  of  the  imperfections  of  his  wisdom  and  piety,  and 
peculiarly  sensible  of  his  liability  to  an  excess  of  zeal,  and  occa- 
sionally to  a  degree  of  causticity  in  manner  and  style,  the  author, 
while  he  regrets  this  torrid  temperament,  which  may  be  ascribed 
to  his  physical  and  phrenological  "  organization,"  can  offer  no 
apology  for  "  calling  things  by  their  right  names."  Towards  the 
author  under  review,  he  is  conscious  of  no  sentiment  inconsis- 
tent -with  "  the  law  of  love  ;"  but  with  the  book  which  bears  his 
name,  he  has  no  fellowship,  and  he  is  free  to  avow  that  he  con- 
temns and  even  abhors  the  errors  on  which  he  has  animadverted, 
and  he  "loves  to  abhor  them."  He  has  no  kindred  affiliation 
with  the  sentiment,  that  because  a  man  is  a  professor  of  the  reli- 
gion which  inculcates  "  love  to  all  men,"  that  he  is,  therefore,  to 
**  suffer  sin  in  his  neighb'^r"  without  uttering  reproof;  or  to  "  pro- 
phecy smooth  things,"  when  the  *'  citadel  of  this  world's  hopes, 
the  sacred  edifice  of  our  holy  religion,"  is  approached  by  the 
brand  of  an  incendiary,  even  though  he  should  be  "transformed 
into  an  angel  of  light,"  or  attempt  the  deed  of  darkness  under 
the  specious  guise  of  philosophy,  or  "  science,  falsely  so  called." 
In  humble  imitation  of  an  apostle,  he  would  "  withstand  him  to 
the  face,  because  he  is  to  cc  be  blamed  ;"  yet,  in  doing  so  with 
the  plainness  of  speech,  and  just  indignation  which  the  cause  of 
truth  demands,  he  trusts  he  has  not  betrayed  a  spirit  of  vindio- 
tiveness,  or  unbecoming  censoriousness.  If  it  shall  so  appear  to 
any  friend  of  the  truth,  it  will  be  a  subject  of  regret,  and  to  none 
more  sincerely  than  to  himself,  since  it  would  grieve  him  to  find 
that  the  infirmity   of  the  writer  should  thus  deteriorate  from  the 


PREFACE.  7 

usefulness  of  his  effort.  He  can,  therefore,  only  say  to  the  reader 
as  his  apology  for  imperfections  either  in  matter  or  manner,  that 
the  reason  why  the  task  has  not  heenhettei'  performed,  is  for  want 
of  an  abler  hand,  a  wiser  head,  and  a  better  heart.  That  it  has 
not  been  earlier  published,  is  wholly  owing  to  the  incessant  avo- 
cations which  other  and  imperative  duties  have  imposed,  by 
which  he  has  been  deprived  of  those  hours  of  leisure  which  he 
would  gladly  have  devoted  to  the  work,  and  by  which  he  has  been 
constrained  to  prepare  detached  parts  at  intervals,  sometimes  of 
weeks  together,  and  to  write  chiefly  during  those  kw  hours  which 
a  laborious  profession  render  needful  for  repose. 

Having  written  the  whole  under  these  disadvantages,  the  author 
can  scarcely  say  that  he  is  himself  satisfied  with  the  manner  of 
the  performnnce ;  nor  can  he  hope  to  escape  the  ban  of  reproba- 
tion from  that  class  of  critics,  who  make  a  man  "an  offender  for 
a  word."  As,  however,  he  does  not  write  for  reputation,  nor  yet 
for  money,  in  the  present  case,  but  wholly  for  the  purpose  to  ex- 
pose error  and  vindicate  truth,  irrespective  of  any  minor  or  per- 
sonal consideration,  he  will  lie  content  to  bear  with  what  grace  he 
may,  the  condemnatory  sentence  of  such  as  demand  perfect 
symmetry  of  elocution  in  every  page  of  an  original  work.  He 
"could  not  meet  their  requisitions  if  he  would,"  and,  in  sober 
verity,  he  may  add,  he  "  would  not  if  he  could."  To  have  his 
sentences  stereotyped  into  conformity  witli  their  archetype, 
■would  afflict  him  as  grievously  as  to  distort  his  own  limbs,  and 
limit  his  locomotion  by  a  straight  jacket. 

In  respect  to  the  views  he  expresses  of  Phrenology,  and  the 
disrespect  with  which  he  treats  that  "  science,"  the  author  deems 
it  proper  to  inform  the  reader,  that  his  own  opinions  on  that  sub- 
ject have  recently  undergone  an  entire  revolution.  Attracted  by 
the  learning  and  labors  of  Gall,  and  admiring  the  genius  and  un- 
tiring industry  of  Spurzheim,  with  many  others  he  had  hailed 
phrenology  as  a  science,  and  even  jiartially  invested  craniology 
itself  with  the  merits  of  a  philosophical  system.  It  was,  how- 
ever, with  anatomical  views  entirely  that  he  had  looked  upon  the 
subject  with  f^ivor,  and  he  had  not  been  led  to  investigate  its  mo- 
ral aspect  or  tendency  until  recently.  He  had  regarded  the 
light  which  phrenologists  claimed  to  have  thrown  upon  tlie  struo- 
ture  and  functions  of  the  brain,  as  calculated  to  contribute  to  the 
business  of  education,  to  aid  in  some  questions  of  medical  juria* 


8  PREFACE. 

prudence,  and  to  facilitate  the  curative  management  of  certain 
obscure  diseases  of  the  head.  Thus  far  he  was  disposed  to  look 
into  phrenology,  and  though  aware  of  the  crude  and  imperfect 
condition  of  its  doctrines,  and  the  arbitrary  character  of  niany  of 
its  dogmas,  still  he  hoped  that  as  it  should  be  studied  and  impro- 
ved, valuable  contributions  to  our  stock  of  knowledge  miglit  be 
the  result.  An  expression  of  these  views,  has  identified  him 
nominally  with  one  or  more  phrenological  societies,  abroad  as 
well  as  at  home;  and  he  had  consented  thereto,  that  he  might 
learn  whatever  truth  might  be  discovered,  which  could  be  useful 
in  his  profession  His  relation,  however,  was  purely  nominal, 
for  he  never  found  either  leisure  or  inclination  to  attend  a  meeting 
on  the  subject,  nor  ever  thought  it  needful  even  to  acknowledge  in 
any  way,  the  compliment  conferred  by  those  phrenological  socie- 
ties wlio  have  elected  him  a  corresponding  member. 

Some  months  since,  however,  he  was  led  to  consider  the  subject 
for  the  first  time,  in  its  moral  aspect,  with  the  view  of  writing  a 
paper,  which  he  had  been  invited  to  prepare  for  one  of  the  "  re- 
views," vindicating  Phrenology  from  the  charge  alleged  by  its 
enemies,  that  it  "  savoured  of  materialism."  Having  thus  been 
constrained  to  look  into  Gall,  Spurzheim,  and  others,  with  this 
object  in  view,  and  thus  brought  to  study  hooks,  into  which  before 
he  had  only  glanced  by  occasional  reference,  he  was  surprised  to 
find  that  all  the  evidence  these  works  afforded  was  just  that  which 
he  did  not  want,  and  which  until  now,  though  often  rallied  on 
the  subject,  he  had  not  believed.  He  was,  therefore,  obliged  to 
decline  preparing  the  proposed  paper,  and  resolved  to  leave  the 
vindication  of  phrenology  to  others.  Indeed,  he  then  resolved  to 
abstain  from  the  subject  wholly,  until  it  could  be  vindicated  by 
Bomebody,  or  until  he  could  cultivate  it  in  works  written  by  other 
than  infidels. 

Soon  after  this  resolution  was  formed,  it  was  confirmed  by  the 
following  circumstance.  A  friend  of  the  author,  himself  a  phre- 
nologist, confessed  that  his  religious  convictions  had  been  shaken, 
and  a  most  hazardous  and  df^plorable  species  of  scepticism  had 
supervened.  Being  somewhat  shocked  at  this  unexpected  dis- 
closure,  and  led  to  remonstrate  against  what  was  truly  regarded 
as  a  calaMiity,  it  was  soon  manifested  by  unequivocal  evidence, 
that  a  SMMieu'hat  ardent  cultivation  of  phrenology,  was  the  direct 


PREFACE.  9^ 

and  obvious  cause.  And  notwithstanding  the  writer  had  become 
fully  persuaded  of  the  infidelity  of  both  Gall  and  Spurzheim,  and 
had  often  seen  and  heard  the  charge  of  materialism  brought 
tigainst  the  science  by  its  enemies,  he  had  never  before  had  the 
subject  brought  home  to  his  heart. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  this  event,  the  attention  of  the  au- 
thor was  directed  to  the  work  of  Dr.  Brigham  under  notice,  and 
tlie  convictions  of  the  nature  and  tendency  of  phrenology,  to 
which  his  mind  had  arrived,  he  need  scarcely  say,  were  greatly 
strengthened  by  its  perusal.  That  the  direct  and  legitimate  ten- 
dency of  phrenology  and  craniology  is  to  neology  and  essential 
atheism,  appeared  to  be  demonstrated  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Brigham 
and  his  book,  and  the  author  felt  that  the  evidence  here  furnished 
must  be  irresistible  to  every  candid  mind.  He  has  little  doubt, 
that  multitudes  like  himself,  have  been  beguiled  by  the  plausible 
aspect  of  the  system,  anatomically  considered,  irrespective  of  its 
moral  tendency.  And  now  that  it  is  exemplified,  as  in  the  in- 
stance before  us,  that  the  cultivation  of  this  subject  leads  to  coarso 
infidelity  and  irreligion,  it  appears  to  be  the  dictate  of  duty  that 
all  such  should  abjure  their  adhesion,  or  even  connivance  at  the 
subject.  And  even  those  who  have  regarded  this  species  of 
philosophy  as  a  harmless  humbug,  impotent  for  good  or  evil ;  a 
mere  puerile  speculation,  which  might  be  innocently  indulged  by 
children  and  fools,  may  discover  their  error  in  the  light  which 
this  work  throws  upon  the  subject,  by  its  melancholy  effect  upon 
its  author. 

As  the  following  pages  are  designed  as  a  reply  to  the  work  of 
Dr.  Brigham,  though  in  the  form  of  a  review,  it  has  been  thought 
necessary  to  indulge  in  some  degree  of  amplification  on  two  or 
tliree  important  points.  The  prominence  given  in  Dr.  Brigham'g 
book  to  the  "religious  sentiment,"  and  upon  which  ignis  fatuus, 
the  whole  volume  is  based,  has  called  for  a  more  free  and  full 
criticism,  than  it  would  otherwise  be  entitled  to.  And  the  extent 
of  his  chapter  on  "  revivals  of  religion,'^  against  which  Dr.  B.  has 
put  forth  all  his  strength,  together  with  the  importance  of  the 
subject,  has  required  a  more  theological  examination  of  that 
topic,  than  under  other  circumstances  would  be  expected  from  a 
medical  man,  while  the  unphilosophical  and  mischievous  doc- 
trines in  relation  to  the  nature  and  causes  of  insanity,  with  which 


10 


PREFACE. 


tlxc  "observations"  of  Dr.  B.  abound,  have  eeemed  to  demand  a 
somewhat  extended  notice  of  this  whole  subject.  The  hints 
which  are  introduced  with  reference  to  the  management  of  insane 
persons,  ahliough  they  may  be  somewliat  novel  to  many,  are  the 
result  of  no  small  share  of  diligent  investigation  of  the  subject, 
and  some  considerable  practical  experience  in  the  treatment  of 
diseases  of  the  brain.  Whether  the  theory  of  insanity,  and  the 
«irative  agencies  deduced  therefrom,  which  are  here  submitted, 
will  meet  the  favor  of  his  professional  brethren  or  not,  the  author 
has  full  confidence  that  practical  men  will  estim;ite  them  for  what 
they  are  worth.  He  trusts,  however,  that  he  has  fully  succeeded 
in  vindicating  religion  from  the  charge  of  being  the  cause  of  in- 
sanity, and  this  is  the  important  point  at  which  he  aims;  nor,  in 
what  ho  has  said  on  this  whole  subject,  has  he  introduced  a  single 
remark  which  is  not  designedly  tributary  to  this  primary  object. 

No  one  can  candidly  peruse  the  observations  of  Dr.  Brigham, 
without  becoming  lamentably  assured,  not  only  that  he  has  fallen 
into  the  mysticism  of  infidel  philosophy,  but  it  is  equally  clear 
tiiat  iiis  scepticism  has  been  recently  acquired,  ajul  tiiat  he  is 
wholly  indebted  for  his  present  "  bad  eminence,"  to  his  reception 
and  cultivation  of  the  science  of  phrenology.  A  remnant  of  the 
"  old  leaven"  still  lingers  in  his  mind,  and  though  he  has  left  the 
vantage  ground  of  truth,  yet  he  retains  sufficient  respect  for  cer- 
tain correct  principles,  to  prevent  his  discovering  fi-om  what  a 
height,  and  into  what  a  depth  he  lias  fallen.  Would  that  he  might 
pause,  before  the  last  ray  of  '*  light  that  is  in  him  becomes  dark* 
ness  !"  May  the  writer  add,  without  presumption  and  without 
offence,  would  to  God  that  this  reply  to  his  book,  might  be  instru- 
mental in  discovering  to  himself  the  fearful  havoc  upon  his  prin- 
ciples which  phrenology  has  wrought,  and  lead  him  to  escape  the 
withering  influence  which  has  well  nigh  overwhelmed  his 
Boul. 

With  such  feelings,  these  pages  are  committed  to  the  press,  and 
the  humble  hope  is  indulged,  that  they  may  be  useful  to  the  rising 
generation  ;  and  should  they  "  pluck  some  brand  out  of  the  burn- 
ing," or  rescue  one  victim  out  of  the  devouring  jaws  of  phreno- 
logy, infidelity,  and  irreligion,  this  effort  will  never  prove  a  source 
of  regret,  whatever  fate  may  be  awarded  to 

THE  AUTHOU. 


PHRENOLOGY 


KNOWN    BY   ITS    FRUITS 


Observations  on  the  Influence  of  Religion  ujwn  the 
Health  and  Physical  Welfare  of  Mankind,  By 
Amariah  Brigham,  M,  D.  Boston :  Marsh, 
Capen  &  Lyon.     1835.' 


r:  » 


Such  being  the  title  page  of  the  work,  which 
has  elicited  the  following  pages,  the  reader  will 
perceive  that,  as  its  name  imports,  the  book  is  of 
a  compound  nature,  being  professedly  both  scien- 
tific and  religious.  It  is  on  this  account,  that  our 
criticisms  must  necessarily  partake  of  the  same 
medico-theological  character.  And  as  we  have 
chosen  the  form  and  style  of  a  review,  for  conve- 
nience and  greater  brevity,  we  must  be  indulged 
with  a  series  of  preliminary  observations,  without 
2 


14  REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

being  accused  of  introducing  irrelevant  topics,  or 
being  justly  chargeable  with  circumlocution, 
since  the  design  of  this  exordium  is  so  obvious. 
We  wish  to  glance  at  the  whole  •*  order"  o{ jpseudo- 
religious  writers,  which  includes  a  diversity  of 
"genera  and  species,"  with  a  view  that  Dr. 
Brigham's  book  ma}^  be  classified  by  the  reader 
according  to  its  merits  ;  and  we  do  this  because 
the  important  bearings  of  the  subjects  upon  which 
he  treats,  will  not  be  so  apparent,  if  it  be  viewed 
abstractly  from  kindred  publications. 

The  Divine  authority  of  the  Hoty  Bible,  and 
the  truth  of  that  system  o^  Religion,  denominated 
Christianity,  which  is  therein  revealed,  have  been 
so  often  demonstrated  by  the  presentation  of  the 
evidences  and  proofs  which  accompany  both  the 
one  and  the  other,  that  he  who  avows  his  infidelity, 
at  the  present  day,  is  justly  regarded  as  proclaim- 
ing his  deficiency  either  of  candor  or  intelligence. 
And  that  such  estimate  of  scepticism  on  these 
subjects,  is  neither  uncharitable  nor  unmerited, 
receives  confirmation  from  the  well  knov/n  fact, 
that  very  many  of  the  most  learned  and  able 
among  the  enemies  of  the  truth,  have  embraced 
Christianity,  and  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Bible, 
so  soon  as  their  intelligence  and  candor  permitted 
a  sober  examination  of  these  important  subjects. 
They  had  previously  rejected  the  Scriptures, 
without  having  investigated  their  merits,  and,  in 
many  instances,  without  having  read  the  sacred 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  15 

volume  ;  and  their  knowledge  of  our  holy  religion 
having  been  derived  from  the  writings  and  testi- 
monies of  its  enemies,  they  were  necessarily  igno- 
rant of  its  true  nature,  and  blind  alike  to  its  claims 
and  its  authority. 

These  examples  have  been  so  numerous  in 
every  age,  that  the  enemies  of  the  truth  have,  for 
the  most  part,  despaired  of  making  proselytes, 
except  by  the  art  of  depreciating  or  concealing 
the  sacred  volume;  and  hence,  the  propagators 
of  every  species  of  false  religion,  as  well  as  the 
advocates  of  irreligion,  have  expended  all  their 
ingenuity  in  the  effort  to  extinguish  or  obscure  this 
*'lamp  of  life."  Priestcraft,  when  enlisted  in  an 
unhallowed  conspiracy  against  the  truth,  has 
chosen  for  its  motto,  the  convenient  maxim,  that 
"  ignorance  is  the  mother  of  devotion,"  and  hence 
labored  to  close  the  volume  of  inspiration  from 
vulgar  eyes,  and  claimed  the  book  of  God,  de- 
signed by  Him  to  be  the  common  property  of  all, 
as  the  sole  inheritance  of  their  own  order — arro- 
gating the  exclusive  proprietorship  both  of  its 
possession  and  interpretation.  Other  enemies 
have  more  plausibly,  yet  with  equally  hostile  and 
pernicious  designs,  corrupted  and  falsified  the 
contents  of  the  "  Book  of  Books,"  and  by  new 
and  unauthorized  translations,  forced  interpreta- 
tions, and  pretended  improvements,  have  grossly 
and  wantonly  perverted  the  sacred  text,  and  thus 
conformed  the  revelation  of  Jehovah  to  their  own 


16  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

creeds  and  dogmas.  These  corrupted  Scriptures, 
they  liberally  consent,  may  be  distributed  and 
read  by  all,  and  they  claim  for  these  the  same 
authority  as  though  they  had  the  seal  of  genuine- 
ness and  authenticity  which  the  unadulterated 
**  word  of  God  "  bears  on  its  front,  the  impress 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

But  while  such  are  the  devices  of  those  who 
claim  to  be  religionists,  and  yet  are  the  enemies 
of  the  truth,  there  are  those  who  seek,  by  mis- 
representation of  the  sacred  volume — by  denying 
the  truth  of  its  chronology — by  questioning  the 
facts  of  its  history — by  declaiming  against  its 
miracles  and  mysteries — and  by  the  force  of  sar- 
casm and  ridicule,  to  cast  it  into  utter  contempt 
and  abhorrence,  and  they  thus  hope  to  inculcate 
absolute  irreligion,  and  teach  men  to  despise  the 
Bible  and  the  God  of  the  Bible.  These,  however, 
though  the  most  virulent,  are  nevertheless  the 
least  dangerous  of  all  the  foes  of  the  truth,  for 
their  very  deformity  renders  them  incapable  of 
extensive  mischief.  Every  semblance  of  argu- 
ment which  their  ablest  champions  have  ever  pro- 
duced, and  every  vestige  of  their  sophistry  and 
and  false  philosophy,  have  been  fully  and  unan- 
swerably met  and  refuted,  and  all  their  weapons 
have  been  thus  made  to  recoil  upon  their  own 
heads,  by  the  contributions  of  those,  whose  sancti- 
fied learning  has  been  consecrated  to  the  vindica- 
tion of  the  truth. 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  17 

So  signal  has  been  the  defeat,  so  utter  the  over- 
throw of  the  mightiest  among  the  ranks  of  infi- 
delity, during  the  last  and  present  century,  and 
so  multiplied  are  the  tropliies  of  victory  which  en- 
lightened philosophy,  and  the  discoveries  of  sci- 
ence, have  furnished  over  the  enemies  of  the  Chris- 
tian revelation,  that  few  can  be  found  in  any 
country,  who  make  pretensions  to  real  learning, 
and  yet  have  the  temerity  to  proclaim  themselves 
the  advocates  of  open  and  avowed  infidelity.  But 
we  are  not  thence  to  infer  that  there  is  less  dispo- 
sition to  oppose  the  truth  of  God,  or  that  the  rejec- 
ters of  Divine  revelation  have  abandoned  their 
hostility  to  Christianity.  If  such  inference  should 
be  drawn,  it  would  be  erroneous  indeed,  since 
facts,  deplorable  facts,  in  our  own  and  other  coun- 
tries, alas,  too  visibly  demonstrate  the  con- 
trar}^ 

The  infidelity  of  the  heart,  is  one  of  the  cha- 
racteristics of  fallen  human  nature,  and  it  often 
lingers  here,  after  it  has  been  driven  from  the 
head  by  the  force  of  truth,  and  clamors  most  loudly 
when  thus  imprisoned.  Indeed,  in  this  fact,  so 
clearly  and  pathetically  taught  by  the  pen  of  in- 
spiration, and  so  universally  felt  and  seen  in  our 
experience  and  observation,  we  have  an  argumeii- 
tum  ad  homific?n,  in  fiivor  of  the  truth  of  Divine 
Revelation,  which  is  and  must  be  forever  unan- 
swerable ;  and  it  is  no  marvel  that  so  many  have 
2* 


18  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

been  thus  constrained  to  bow  to  the  majesty  of 
truth,  upon  whom  other  and  even  potent  means 
had  been  employed  in  vain.  But  alas !  in  a  mul- 
titude of  instances,  those  who  cannot  resist  the 
external  and  internal  evidences  of  Christianity, 
as  a  system,  nor  gainsay  the  array  of  logical  and 
learned  argumentation  with  which  its  enemies 
have  been  confounded  by  the  wise  and  good,  are 
nevertheless  impelled  by  the  infidelity  of  the 
heart,  to  enter  upon  a  warfare  against  some  of  the 
distinguishing  aiid  essential  features  of  the  system, 
either  singly  or  together,  while  disavowing  any 
hostility  to  the  system  itself. 

These  who  denominate  themselves  rational, 
philosophical,  or  liberal  Christians,  are  by  far  the 
most  dangerous,  and  most  successful  opposers  of 
the  truth.  They  profess  respect,  and  even  reve- 
rence for  the  Bible,  and  denominate  it  Holy  ;  and 
in  all  their  religious  nomenclature,  but  little  vari- 
ation from  the  ordinary  language  of  orthodoxy  can 
be  detected  by  a  superficial  observer,  while  they 
nevertheless  utterly  reject  the  doctrine  of  Divine 
inspiration.  They  speak  of  "  our  Savior  and 
blessed  Lord,"  though  they  disbelieve  and  deny 
his  Divinity,  holding  him  to  have  been  either  "  a 
man,  a  mere  man,  a  good  man,  a  super-human,  an 
angelic,  or  super-angelic  being,*'^  or  perhaps  a 
*'  greater  than  Moses,  but  less  than  God.^*  They 
even  discourse  upon  the  efficacy  of  his  "  suffer- 
ings and  death,"  and  the  "  value  of  his  blood," 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  19 

while  at  the  same  time  they  deny  his  "  vicarious 
sacrifice,*'  and  reject  the  scriptural  doctrine  of 
the  "  atonement  for  sin."  Such  will  even  dwell 
upon  the  "  evangelical  doctrine  of  regeneration," 
and  sanctification,  in  Scripture  language,  while  in 
their  philosophy  they  wholly  reject  the  doctrine 
of  "  Divine  influence,"  and  believe  in  a  religion 
without  spirituality,  and  will  employ  their  sophis- 
try, and  even  ridicule,  against  all  claims  to  expe- 
rimental knowledge  of  the  agency  of  the  Holy 
Ghost — and  yet  all  the  while  zealously  contend 
for  liberal  Christianity — and  so  far  from  avowing 
infidelity,  or  consenting  to  be  ranked  among  scep- 
tics and  unbelievers,  they  maintain  themselves  to 
be  true  believers,  and  genuine  Christians.  In- 
deed many  of  them  discourse  logically  and  learn- 
edly upon  the  "  folly  of  scepticism,  the  madness 
and  danger  of  infidelity." 

That  there  are  many  such  who  are  self-de- 
ceived, and  while  claiming  to  be  Christians,  really 
believe  themselves  to  be  such,  may  be  readily 
.admitted,  for  there  are,  doubtless,  many  such  who 
possess  too  much  of  honor,  integrity,  and  charac- 
ter, to  allow  the  supposition,  that  they  would  vo- 
luntarily deceive  others,  or  designedly  practise 
imposture.  It  is  not  our  purpose  or  province  to 
make  inquisition  of  motive,  since  to  assume  so 
high  a  prerogative  is  alike  foreign  to  our  inclina- 
tion and  design.  But  sincerity  in  error,  does  not 
transform  error  into  truth ;  nor  on  the  presump- 


20  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

tion,  if  we  dare  indulge  it,  that  all  of  this  class  of 
religionists  have  been,  and  are  living  "  in  all 
good  conscience  before  God  unto  this  day ;"  and 
that  such  have  "  verily  thought  they  were  doing 
God  service" — yet  even  this  presumption  would 
by  no  means  "  change  the  truth  of  God  into  a  lie," 
nor  in  the  least  diminish  the  dangerous  and  mis- 
chievous nature  of  their  errors,  especially  if  those 
errors  be  fundamental.  It  is  true,  if  such  were 
the  fact,  and  it  shall  so  appear  to  the  Searcher  of 
Hearts,  their  errors  may  not  render  them  criminal 
in  His  sight,  nor  may  absolute  guilt  be  predicated 
of  their  heresy,  however  great  or  flagrant ;  yet, 
nevertheless,  the  baneful  influence,  and  pernicious 
tendency  of  their  heretical  opinions  upon  others, 
are  not  the  less  to  be  deprecated  by  the  cause  of 
truth. 

Indeed,  nothing  can  be  more  obvious  than  that 
while  the  cardinal  and  essential  features  of  Chris- 
tianit}^  and  the  great  and  fundamental  truths  of 
Revelation,  are  rejected,  impugned,  or  obscured  ; 
the  more  of  the  semblance  of  truth  such  a  S3'stem 
of  error  retains,  the  more  it  is  to  be  deprecated. 
This  is  the  device  of  the  grand  adversary  of  souls, 
lor  we  read  of  "  false  prophets  and  false  Christs, 
who  perform  many  wonders,  and  deceive,  if  it 
were  possible,  the  ver}^  elect ;"  and  the  apostle 
affirms,  that  "  Satan  is  transformed  into  an  angel 
of  light"  to  deceive  and  betray.  And  by  similar 
authority  we  are  distinctly  taught,  that  it  is  possi- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  31 

ble  for  men  in  the  world,  and  in  the  Christian 
church,  to  "  seem  to  be  rehgious,"  and  only  seem 
to  be  so,  while  "  deceiving  their  own  hearts  ;"  for 
**  tliere  is  a  way  that  seemeth  right  unto  a  man,  but 
the  end  thereof  are  the  ways  of  death."  Hence, 
without  discussing,  much  less  deciding,  the  merits 
of  this  or  that  species  of  heresy,  we  are  constrain- 
ed to  believe,  that  error  is  more  mischievous  and 
dangerous  to  the  souls  of  men,  when  clad  in  the 
habiliments  of  truth  ;  and  the  more  the  enemies 
of  Christianity  assume  the  resemblance  of  true 
religion,  the  more  they  are  to  be  dreaded  and 
avoided. 

The  publication  of  books,  emanating  from 
known  and  acknowledged  infidels,  and  professedly 
hostile  to  the  Bible,  and  the  God  of  the  Bible, 
need  not  occasion  apprehensions,  or  awaken 
anxiety  among  the  friends  of  Christianity,  for  the 
truth  of  God  has  little  to  fear  from  the  open  as- 
saults of  its  enemies,  as  the  history  of  the  past 
abundantly  proves.  Hence,  such  issues  from  the 
modern  press  are  exceedingly  rare,  and  for  the 
most  part  do  but  little  mischief,  and  are  soon  for- 
gotten. The  maxim  of  the  prince  of  infidels  was, 
"  Conceal  your  march  T^  and  thus  only  have  kind- 
red spirits,  ever  since,  found  any  measure  of  suc- 
cess. They  who  have  not  discovered  this  feature 
in  the  tactics  of  the  party,  who,  in  any  place,  are 
laboring  to  overthrow  Christianity,  must,  indeed, 
have  been  careless  observers.     Infidels  know  that 


22  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

all  history  and  experience  have  shown,  that  an 
avowal  of  their  principles  and  designs  will  be  ne- 
cessarily fatal  to  their  influence  in  any  commu- 
nity. Ilcnce,  hypocrisy,  deep,  dark,  and  cruel 
hypocrisy,  is  indispensable  to  success  in  making 
prosel}' tes  to  any  modification  which  infidelily  has 
ever  assumed,  and  be  who  can  most  effectually 
"  conceal  his  march,"  is  regarded  as  the  best 
skilled  in  the  science,  the  most  valuable  advocate 
of  their  cause. 

These  remarks  are  designed  to  direct  the  reader 
to  the  fact,  that  we  are  not  to  look  for  the  enemies 
of  the  truth,  who  are  the  most  dangerous  and 
mischievous,  in  the  army  of  atheists,  deists,  and 
sceptics,  who  proclaim  their  own  folly,  and  glory 
in  their  shame.  There  are  many  such,  who  with 
their  *'  colors  flying,"  impiously  mouth  the  hea- 
vens with  their  blasphemies  against  the  foible,  and 
the  God  of  the  Bible,  and  openly  celebrate  their 
orgies  under  circumstances  of  enormity,  and  with 
deeds  of  guilt  and  infamy,  "  enough  to  make  the 
cheek  of  darkness  pale!"  These  depraved  and 
fallen  spirits  are,  however,  among  the  most  im- 
potent of  all  the  foes  of  truth  and  virtue,  since 
the  naked  deformities  of  their  principles  and  prac- 
tice disgust  by  their  very  loathsomeness. 

Neither  are  the  forms  of  infidelity,  denominated 
Atheism  and  Deism,  to  be  regarded  as  the  most 
corrupting  and  dangerous  lo  the  virtue  of  the 
community,  since  the  rising  generation   are,  for 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  28 

the  most  part,  protected  from  these  extremes,  by 
that  instinctive  horror,  which  is  happily  the  result 
of  almost  any  share  of  Christian  education.  Even 
when  we  find  such  unbelievers,  as  is  sometimes 
the  case,  without  those  hideous  enormities  upon 
morals  and  virtue,  by  which  others  of  the  party 
are  distinguished,  still  the  denial  of  the  existence 
of  God,  and  the  utter  rejection  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, is  a  "great  gulf,"  into  which  no  man  steps 
at  a  single  stride. 

But  while  the  transition  from  an  historical  faith 
in  the  truth  of  Christianity,  to  an  open  avowal  of 
dark  and  cheerless  infidelity  is  so  great  that  no 
man  suddenly  makes  it ;  and  while  there  is  truly 
a  "  great  gulf"  between  those  two  distant  points, 
yet  there  are  a  number  of  steps  which  imper- 
ceptibly but  surely  lead  across  and  downward 
from  the  vantage  ground  of  truth,  into  fatal  and 
ruinous  heresy.  All  who  have  been  converted  to 
infidelity  have  been  led  by  these  steps,  most  of 
them  unconsciously ;  for  had  they  known  whither 
they  were  bound  before  they  were  shrouded  in 
the  bewildering  mazes  of  scepticism,  shuddering 
at  the  enormities  to  which  custom  has  now  re- 
conciled them,  they  had  torn  themselves  away 
from  the  snare.  The  enchantment  of  '*  free 
inquiry,"  the  bait  of  "knowledge,"  the  charms 
of  "  metaphysics,"  the  witchery  of  vain  "  phi- 
losophy "  the  mysticism  of  "  phrenology  and  cra^ 
niology,"  or  some  other  of  the  "  golden  balls" 


24  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

thrown  in  their  way,  have  led  them  successively  to 
hesitate,  to  speculate,  to  doubt,  to  ridicule,  and  to 
scofF.  Or,  what  is  more  probably  and  more  fre- 
quently the  case,  they  have  become  spell-bound  in 
the  gaudy  decorations  o^'-^rational  Christianity,"  or 
**  natural  religion,"  or  perhaps  the  "  liberals  "  and 
**  utilitarians  "  of  the  day,  have  entangled  them  in 
the  net  of  subtlety  and  mysticism,  which  they  so  in- 
geniously and  adroitly  weave  for  themselves  and 
others.  Thus  led  to  doubt,  and  prepared  even 
for  the  denial  of  the  great  essentials  of  Christiani- 
ty, ingeniously  made  to  ajjpear  "  irrational,  unphi- 
losophical,  or  ilUberal,"  and  taught  to  try  inspi- 
ration at  the  bar  of  their  own  reason,  and  measure 
Almighty  wisdom  by  the  standard  of  the  human 
intellect,  the  rejection  of  the  truth  of  God,  and  the 
substitution  of  the  dogmas  of  men,  becomes  both 
natural  and  easy.  Hence,  when  the  minds  of 
men  are  by  such  discipline  and  mental  training 
led  away  from  the  truth  distinctively,  they  are 
like  a  "  wave  of  the  sea  driven  by  the  winds  and 
lost."  All,  all  becomes  mystery  and  uncertainty 
when  the  darkness  of  their  mental  vision  "obscures 
the  pole,  rejects  the  compass,  disdains  the  chart," 
and,  like  the  maniac  crew  of  the  phantom  ship, 
they  and  their  '*  rational  philosophy,"  are  soon  lost 
in  the  ocean,  and  a  fatal  moral  shipwreck  closes 
the  terrific  scene. 

Error,  like  vice,  is  rapidly  progressive  ;  "  its 
march  is  ever  onward,  and  its  tremendous  ten- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  25 

dency  is  to  accumulation."  Illustrations  of  this 
sentiment  are  seen  on  every  hand,  and  in  no 
instance  more  visibly  than  in  the  history  of 
religious  defection.  All  the  world  have  heard 
of  the  concession  of  the  great  Dr.  Priestly,  who 
said,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  as  to  what  were  his 
present  religious  views,  proposed  by  one  who  had 
witnessed  and  deplored  his  downward  progress, 
after  he  had  once  renounced  the  truth:  "Once" 
said  he,  "  I  was  a  Trinitarian,  then  I  became  an 
Arian,  next  a  Socinian,  but  with  increasing  light, 
I  have  become  a  Humanitarian,  and  though  this  is 
where  I  now  stand,  yet  1  know  not  where  I  shall 
be  soon !"  by  which  he  candidly  admitted  what  his 
experience  had  proved,  that  he  had  no  fixed  prin- 
ciple of  religious  belief,  no  standard  of  faith  at  all 
satisfactory  or  conclusive,  even  in  relation  to  the 
great  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  character  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  in  America,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  Atheists  of  modern  times,  by 
having  successively  followed  the  steps  of  Priestly 
so  far  as  he  is  admitted  to  have  descended  the  lad- 
der, has  been  led  to  take  still  other  steps  down- 
wards :  universal  ism  first,  then  deism  in  its  re- 
finement, and  subsequently  in  its  vulgarity ;  and 
at  present  he  is  a  public  champion  of  atheism,  In 
all  the  darkness  and  blackness  of  its  morals;  and 
lingers  on  the  shores  of  time,  a  revolting  picture 
of  one  "  treasuring  up  wrath  against  the  day  of 
wrath." 

3 


2G  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

Such  examples  of  the  downward  tendency  of 
religious  error  should  teach  us  the  infinite  danger 
of  being  "  driven  about  by  every  wind  of  doc- 
trine ;"  and  as  a  wrong  habit  of  thinking  nriay  be 
readily  acquired,  and  as  this  will  infallibly  lead 
to  a  wrong  habit  of  acting,  equally  impercepti- 
ble in  its  approach  and  difficult  to  conquer,  when 
once  acquired,  the  young  and  rising  generation 
should  be  scrupulously  guarded  and  protected 
from  those  "  evil  communications  which  corrupt 
good  manners"  and  good  morals  too.  Erroneous 
opinions  will  necessarily  result  in  erroneous  prac- 
tice, correspondent  to  the  measure  of  error  those 
opinions  embrace  ;  and  as  the  liberty  of  the  press, 
which  is  our  glorious  inheritance,  by  its  licentious 
abuse,  affords  such  infinite  facilities  for  the  pro- 
pagation of  erroneous  opinions,  it  is  important  to 
the  well-being  of  the  community,  and  essential  to 
the  public  safety,  that  every  modification  of  re- 
ligious error  emanating  from  the  ever  prolific 
press,  should  be  promptly  followed  by  an  appro- 
priate antidote.  For  unless  the  friends  of  truth, 
of  virtue,  and  religion,  exercise  the  utmost  vigi- 
lance over  the  current  literature  of  the  day,  the 
fountains  of  popular  knowledge  may  be  poisoned 
with  the  corrupting  leaven  of  infidelity  and  irreh- 
lioion.  And  if  this  can  be  done  to  the  extent 
which  the  open  and  secret  enemies  of  Christianity 
are  laboring  to  effect,  the  nation  and  the  world 
will  feel  the  withering  influence  of  the  unhallowed 
deed. 


REVIEW   OF   DR.    BRIGHAM.  27 

The  maxim,  that  ''  error  of  opinion  may  be  to- 
lerated, while  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it," 
imposes  by  its  very  justice,  a  solemn  and  im- 
perious obligation  upon  the  friends  of  truth  to  re- 
new and  perpetuate  the  employment  of  "  reason" 
in  the  "  combat,"  co-extensively  with  the  "  tole- 
ration." Unless  this  be  done,  intolerance  itself 
would  be  a  lesser  evil  than  the  toleration  of  error, 
when  that  error  involves  the  brightest  hopes,  the 
dearest  interests,  and  the  everlasting  destinies  of 
men.  But  if  the  defensive  warfare  of  reason 
against  error  be  diligently  and  faithfully  maintain- 
ed, there  never  has  been,  there  never  need  be,  one 
anxious  apprehension  for  the  result,  for  "truth  is 
mighty,  and  will  prevail."  The  pulpit  and  the 
press  should  never  cease  to  repeat  the  voice  of 
warning  against  "walking  in  the  counsel  of  the 
ungodly,  or  standing  in  the  way  of  sinners,  or  sit- 
ting in  the  seat  of  the  scornful." 

In  the  exercise  of  the  vigilance  which  is  called 
for  in  the  present  aspect  of  our  country  especially, 
American  patriots  and  Christians  will  fmd  that  the 
most  demorahzing  and  mischievous  publications 
of  the  day,  are  those  which  aim  to  sap  the  foun- 
dations of  the  sacred  edifice  of  Christianity,  under 
the  garb  of  pseudo-philanthropy  and  false  philo- 
sophy. Some  of  these  conspirators  are  professedly 
very  religious,  and  kindly  propose  to  improve  upon 
the  "  oracles  of  God,"  simplify  the  doctrines  and 
duties  taught  us  by  inspiration,  and  conform  the 


28  REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

Christian  sj^stem  throughout,  to  the  present  ad- 
vanced age  of  hght,  and  refinement,  and  educa- 
tion. They  seem  to  allege,  that  the  instructions 
of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  though  highly  valuable 
and  useful  in  times  of  comparative  ignorance  and 
barbarism,  are  altogether  too  antiquated  for  the 
present  improved  and  elevated  intellectual  con- 
dition of  our  species,  and  hence  their  philanthropy 
and  philosophy  alike  prompt  them  to  innovate 
and  reform.  They  honor  and  approve  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  are  only  laboring  to  purify 
it  of  all  exceptionable  features,  and  make  it  what 
it  ought  to  be,  a  very  paragon  of  perfection.  We 
are  not,  therefore,  by  any  means  to  rank  them 
among  the  enemies  of  the  truth,  for  they  are 
the  friends  and  advocates  for  the  system,  and  only 
wish  to  refine  it,  and  benevolently  bring  their 
philosophy  to  this  desirable  and  plausible  w^ork. 
That  an  extensive  and  simultaneous  combina- 
tion now  exists,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  for 
the  purpose  of  subverting  Christianity,  and  over- 
throwing the  truth  of  God,  needs  no  other  evidence 
than  the  fact  every  where  visible,  of  the  employ- 
ment of  the  public  press,  for  the  alleged  purpose  of 
improving  the  doctrines  of  our  holy  religion,  and 
perfecting  what  inspiration  has  pronounced  already 
*'  perfect."  The  Bible  is  not  only  complained  of 
as  erroneous  and  defective,  but  it  has  been  pro- 
nounced so  exceptionable  in  many  of  its  parts, 
that  new  versions  are  projected  and  absolutely 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  29 

making,  and  this  too  not  by  enemies,  but  friends 
of  the  Bible,  who  benevolently  desire  to  amend 
"  the  words  of  God,"  out  of  pare  friendship 
for  His  truth.  Books  and  pamphlets,  without 
number,  are  deluging  the  land,  written  by  pro- 
fessed Christians  too,  for  the  purpose  of  correct- 
ing errors  in  the  theology  and  ethics,  which  the 
world  of  scholars  and  divines  have  learned  from 
the  bible,  but  must  be  now  abandoned  and 
abjured,  because,  as  they  tell  us,  enlightened 
philosophy,  and  improving  science,  render  them 
no  longer  worthy  of  veneration.  And  such  are 
the  multiplied  and  multifarious  improvements 
which  have  been  proposed  and  recommended  for 
the  sacred  edifice  of  Christianity,  by  the  learned 
men  of  our  own  and  foreign  countries,  sustained 
by  an  ostentatious  exhibition  of  Hebrew,  Chaldaic, 
Greek,  and  Anglo-Saxon  learning,  that  if  all  of 
them  could  be  embodied  together,  instead  of  an 
harmonious  system  of  symmetrical  proportions, 
worthy  of  its  Divine  Author,  their  Christianity 
would  be  a  tvpe  of  old  chaos,  more  confounding 
than  the  confusion  of  tongues  at  the  building  of 
Babel,  more  bewildering  than  the  mazes  of  infi- 
delity itself. 

Perhaps  no  one  event  among  the  novel  disco- 
veries of  modern  times,  is  more  plausible,  subtle, 
and  dangerous,  than  the  introduction  of  the 
science  of  phrenology.  Introduced  to  the  world 
by  truly  learned  and  deserved^  eminent  men,  pro- 
3* 


30  REVIEW   OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

fessing  to  be  based  upon  the  Baconian  philosophy 
of  induction,  claiming  the  discovery  of  a  multi- 
tude of  new  and  important  facts,  which  are  cal- 
culated to  enlighten  mankind  upon  the  abstruse 
philosophy  of  mind,  and  arrayed  in  all  the  attrac- 
tions which  genius,  eloquence,  and  literature, 
combine  to  furnish,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
that  a  system  thus  fortified,  should  resist  the  as- 
saults of  dogmatism  and  the  sneers  of  ridicule, 
which  have  been  for  the  most  part  the  only 
weapons  employed  against  it.  Hence  the  be- 
lievers in  the  doctrines  of  phrenology  have  become 
a  great  multitude,  which  no  man  can  number, 
although  there  are  still  comparatively  few  who 
have  studied  the  science,  and  a  still  smaller 
number  who  have  sufficiently  cultivated  it  to 
become  fully  acquainted  with  its  nature  and  ten- 
dencies. It  is  only  very  lately,  that  in  this  coun- 
try, the  subject  has  gained  the  public  attention, 
and  the  immensely  deleterious  and  demoralizing 
influence  it  is  calculated  to  exert  upon  the  public 
mind  and  character,  is  not  yet  discerned,  or  ap- 
preciated. 

The  truth  is,  it  ought  to  be  known  and  felt, 
that  phrenology  is  not  that  indifferent  subject 
of  speculation,  which  may  be  regarded  utterly 
impotent  for  good  or  ill,  as  it  has  been  viewed  by 
many  ;  nor  is  it  that  insignificant  and  contemptible 
conceit,  which  can  be  annihilated  by  laughter,  or 
the  sneer  of  sarcasm.     It  has  assumed  the  form 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  31 

of  science,  the  name  of  philosophy,  and  has 
gained  upon  public  credulity,  and  secured  the 
allegiance  of  many  wise  and  good  men,  who  have 
overlooked  its  moral  aspect,  or  misapprehended 
its  tendency  and  bearing  in  relation  to  the  sacred 
edifice  of  Christianity.  However  ingeniously  the 
hook  of  infidelity  has  been  baited  by  Gall,  and 
gilded  by  Spurzheim,  and  however  adroitly  other 
advocates  of  the  science  may  attempt  its  vindica- 
tion, the  true  character  and  tendency,  if  not  the 
original  design  of  this  whole  phrenological  and 
craniological  system,  is  by  recent  events  becom- 
ing disclosed.  And  this  exposure,  philanthropists 
and  Christians  are  imperiously  called  upon  to 
make  known  by  early  and  combined  exertions,  so 
that  our  country  and  the  world  may  be  protected 
from  the  mischiefs  which  the  prevalence  of  this 
moral  heresy  may  otherwise  inflict. 

We  need  not  detain  the  reader,  even  b}^  alluding 
to  the  numerous  examples  and  forms  in  which 
modern  writers,  and  particularly  phrenologists 
and  physicians,  are  attempting  to  enlighten  the 
public,  upon  the  subject  of  Christianit}^  while 
their  works  betray  either  absolute  ignorance  of 
their  chosen  theme,  or  the  secret,  though  deadly 
hostility  they  bear  to  its  distinctive  characteris- 
tics. It  will  be  sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  select 
one  of  this  class,  by  no  means  the  most  attractive 
or  able,  yet  calculated  by  its  plausibility  and  guile, 
to  mislead  the  unwary,  and  under  the  mask  of 


32  REVIEW   OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

religion  and  science,  to  inculcate  both  irreligion 
and  barbarism.  And  we  make  the  selection 
moreover,  mainly  because  it  is  an  example  of 
what  false  philosophy,  such  as  phrenology  is  pro- 
pagating, has  both  the  disposition  and  the  power 
to  effect. 

The  work  to  which  we  refer,  is  entitled,  "  Oh- 
servations  on  the  Iiifiuence  of  Religion  upon  the  Health 
and  Physical  Welfare  of  Mankind^  by  Amariah 
Brigham,  M.  Z>."  It  was  published  at  Boston 
during  the  last  3^ear,  and  the  author  is  a  respect- 
able physician  of  Hartford,  Conn.  He  had  become 
known  to  the  pubhc  by  a  smaller  volume  on  "  the 
Influence  of  Mental  Cultivation  and  Mental  Ex- 
citement upon  Health,"  published  a  short  time 
before.  In  that  earlier  effort  of  his  mind,  with  a 
great  deal  of  good  sense,  and  sound  practical 
truth  upon  the  subject  of  physical  education,  there 
is  much  false  philosophy  and  perverted  phrenolo- 
gy, giving  evidence  that  the  author  is  more  fami- 
liar with  Gall  and  Spurzheim  than  with  the  book 
of  nature,  and  demonstrating  that  he  has  more  re- 
verence for  their  productions,  than  he  has  for  the 
Bible.  By  what  he  calls  the  "  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence" of  his  remarks  upon  the  "  mental  ex- 
citement occasioned  by  the  number  of  churches,  re- 
ligious  meetings,  and  Sunday  schools,''^  alleging  these 
among  the  causes  tending  to  produce  insanity,  by 
promoting  "  excessive  action  of  the  brain  /"  he 
had  broadly  intimated  what  were  his  opinions  on 


REVIEW  OF  BR.  BRIGHAM.  83 

these  subjects,  and  what  would  be  his  ulterior  de- 
sign, should  he  deem  it  practicable  or  expedient 
to  prosecute  it  farther.  Indeed,  there  was  so  much 
in  that  volume  indicative  of  the  scepticism  of  the 
author's  mind,  that  it  required  little  discernment 
to  discover  that  its  publication  was  but  the  pioneer 
of  a  still  farther  "  developement,"  of  less  equivo- 
cal character.  Hence,  those  who  read  that  book 
were  not  surprised  to  learn  that  the  doctor  had  is- 
sued another  work  ;  nor  were  they  at  a  loss  to 
predict  its  true  character,  especially  when  its  title 
avowed,  that  *'  Religion,  and  its  Influence  upon 
Health,"  was  to  be  the  subject  of  his  "observa- 
tions." In  short,  the  former  book  prepared  the 
way  for  the  latter,  and  this  has  fully  confirmed 
the  forebodings  of  those  who  had  anticipated  its 
dangerous  and  mischievous  tendency. 

As  a  medical  man,  it  is  certainly  within  the 
author's  legitimate  province,  to  enlighten  his  fel- 
low-citizens and  the  world  upon  the  subject  of  the 
ptihlic  health.  As  one  of  its  guardians,  his  obliga- 
tions to  society,  by  virtue  of  this  relation,  are  com- 
mensurate with  his  ability,  and  so  far  as  acquaint- 
ance with  his  profession  qualifies  him  for  this  task, 
we  are  not  inclined  to  question  his  pretensions. 
Indeed,  with  the  author  we  have  no  quarrel,  since 
he  is  known  to  us  only  through  his  writings,  and 
from  these  we  judge  him  to  be  a  man  of  intelli- 
gence and  education,  possessing  a  mind  cultivated 
by  reading  and  travel ;  of  ardent  temperament,  a 


34  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

vivid  imagination,  and  no  small  boldness  and 
originality  of  thought,  and  but  for  his  ultra  phreno- 
logical views,  by  which  his  mind  has  been  bewil- 
dered, we  should  suppose  him  to  be  capable  of 
high  intellectual  effort,  if  he  had  been  trained 
under  better  auspices. 

Having  formed  this  estimate  of  Dr.  B.,  from  all 
the  data  in  our  power,  we  cannot  possibly  feel  to- 
ward him,  personally,  any  other  than  amicable 
and  respectful  sentiments.  Yet,  without  impeach- 
ing either  his  intelligence  or  integrity,  much  less 
impugning  his  motives,  which  ai-e  beyond  our 
scrutiny,  it  is  with  his  book  which  we  have  to 
do,  and  as  this  is  public  property,  neither  he  nor 
his  admirers  have  any  just  ground  of  complaint, 
that  we  should  frankly  aver,  that  while  our 
*'  health"  might  be  safely  entrusted  to  his  profes- 
sional skill,  we  could  not  consent  to  commit  our 
"  Religion"  to  his  keeping. 

Indeed  he  allows  in  his  preface,  that  he  lacks 
both  "  learning  and  leisure,"  for  the  important 
and  extensive  subject  of  which  he  treats,  and  pro- 
fesses to  have  been  urged  to  undertake  it  under 
these  disadvantages,  by  its  "practical  utility," 
and  the  dearth  of  information  on  this  topic.  But 
though  he  gives  evidence  in  his  book  of  his  lack 
in  these  respects,  yet  a  much  greater  deficiency 
is  still  more  apparent.  His  "  learning  and  lei- 
sure," however  limited,  are,  doubtless,  fully  ade- 
quate to  the  investigation  of  "  anatomy  and  phy- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  35 

siology,"  and  the  whole  science  of  health;  but 
neither  of  these,  in  any  measure,  qualifies  him  for 
the  full  and  proper  elucidation  of  the  sublime  sci- 
ence of  Religion ;  and  in  his  case  it  would  seem 
that  by  perverted  views  of  physical  science,  his 
learning,  or  rather  want  of  learning,  has  become 
an  absolute  disqualification,  of  which  however  we 
may  again  have  occasion  to  remark. 

In  bespeaking  the  favor  of  the  reader,  in  his 
preface,  he  begs  him  to  "  study  the  New  Testa- 
ment, free  from  all  preconceived  opinions,  as  if  it 
was  a  work  hut  just  issued  from  the  ]^r ess  P^  He 
might  with  as  much  propriety  have  reversed  his 
petition,  and  desired  that  his  book  might  be  read, 
"  as  if  it  was  a  work,"  written  many  centuries 
ago,  by  *'  holy  men,"  who  "  wrote  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  A  compHance  on 
the  part  of  the  reader  would  not  at  all  be  render- 
ed more  difficult  by  this  change  in  the  order  of 
priority,  though  the  one  and  the  other  are  alike 
impracticable  and  absurd.  If  he  mean  that  his 
book  should  be  read  beside  the  New  Testament, 
and  a  relative  comparison  instituted  upon  their 
merits,  as  though  cocteris paribus,  a  Christian  would 
decide  that  such  a  request  indicates  a  degree  of 
impiety,  httle  short  of  blasphemy.  Docs  he  claim 
the  same  authority  for  the  sentiments  he  incul- 
cates, as  the  inspired  volume  demands  ?  And 
does  he  himself  read  the  New  Testament  with  no 
more  of  reverence  and  veneration,  than  he  feels 


3G  REVIEW  OF  RD.  BRIGHAM. 

for  his  own  lucubrations  ?  Then  is  he  absolutely 
disqualified  for  estimating  that  sacred  book,  where- 
in is  revealed  *'  Christ  crucified,  to  the  Jews  a 
stumbling  block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness  ;" 
and  were  his  demand  upon  his  readers  at  all  fea- 
sible, he  would  inflict  upon  them  a  similar  dis- 
ability. 

How  amazins:  is  the  difference  between  this 
writer,  who  fails  to  perceive  any  distinction  be- 
tween "  matters  of  science,  and  those  of  piety," 
and  the  language  of  a  late  able  and  scientific  wri- 
ter, in  pursuing  an  analogous  inquir}^*  He  warns 
his  reader  against  allowing  his  "  conjectures,  how- 
ever rational,  to  disturb  his  religious  convictions," 
and  admonishes  him  "  carefully  to  abstain  from 
the  error  of  confounding  the  deductions  of  reason 
with  the  testimony  of  the  inspired  writers,  nor 
ever  to  allow  any  part  of  the  authority,  or  the  se- 
rious and  sacred  import  that  attach  to  tlie  latter,  to 
be  extended  to  the  former."  And  he  adds,  "  this 
would  indeed  be  a  grave  fault,  and  especially  so, 
if  on  the  strength  of  even  the  most  reasonable 
theory,  we  are  led  to  bring  into  question  a  particle 
of  that  which  the  text  of  Scripture,  duly  interpre- 
ted, requires  us  to  believe.  Hence  we  should  hold 
every  thing  light  and  fallacious  which  countervails, 
or  which  will  not  readily  consist  with  tlie  sure 
words  of  Christ  and  his  apostles." 

*  "  Physical  theory  of  another  life." 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  37 

No  one,  on  comparing  these  sentiments  with 
those  of  Dr.  B.,  can  fail  to  decide,  that  their  author 
writes  hke  a  Christian  who  believes  in  the  high 
and  paramount  authority  of  revelation,  and  desires 
his  reader  to  discard  both  him  and  his  speculations 
when  they  conflict  with  the  standard  of  infaUible 
truth.  Not  so,  however,  with  the  work  before 
us ;  for  we  are  here  directed  to  place  the  New 
Testament  and  this  book  on  a  perfect  parity  ;  to 
read  them  both  as  if  "just  issued  from  the  press," 
and  thus  force  an  analogy  where  there  is  no  pa- 
rallel. 

But  he  next  assures  us,  in  this  same  preface, 
that  he  "  entertains  a  profound  respect  for  the  7'cli- 
gious  sentiment,  notwithstanding  the  absurd  forms, 
ceremonies  and  customs  with  which  it  has  been 
connected,  and  he  hopes  to  render  it  more iwoduc- 
tive  of  good  by  exhibiting  the  evils  which  some  of 
these  ceremonies  and  customs  have  caused  man- 
kind, and  which  will  continue  to  afflict  them  unless 
they  are  abandoned." 

And  now  let  the  reader  inquire  what  is  this  "  re- 
ligious sentiment"  for  which  the  author  "  enter- 
tertains  profound  respect,"  and  he  will  learn  that 
it  is  a  something  "  i?i7iate  in  man,'''' — an  "  indestruc- 
tible sentiment"  which  is  "  a  part  of  his  nature," 
which  he  illustrates  by  affirming,  that  "  no  race  of 
human  beings  have  been  known  who  had  not  a  re- 
ligion and  some  form  of  religious  worship."  We 
are  not  to  suppose  then  that  he  feels  this  "pro- 
4 


33  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

foiUKl  respect"  for  Christianity,  else  we  should 
greatly  misapprehend  his  meaning  ;  for  while  he 
admits  that  "  the  religion  of  Christ  is  superior  to 
all  others  in  promoting  the  'physical  welfare  of  man- 
hind,''''  yet  he  regards  Christianity  only  as  another 
form  or  development  of  the  same  "  religious  senti- 
ment, "  which  is  "  innate  in  man,"  and  common 
equally  to  "  the  savage  and  the  civilized,"  and  ex- 
isting among  all  the  pagan  and  heathen  nations  of 
antiquity,  as  well  as  those  of  the  present  day.  This 
"  religious  sentiment,"  he  affirms,  has  "  impelled 
men  and  women  to  sacrifice  themselves,  their  off- 
siting,  their  dearest  Jcijidred,  and  driven  nations  into 
the  7nost  cruel  and  destructive  wars  the  world  has 
ever  witnessed  ;"  and  it  is  this  "  most  powerful 
sentiment  of  our  nature  "  for  which  he  ''  entertains 
profound  respect." 

To  the  existence  and  universal  influence  of  this 
"religious  sentiment"  he  ascribes  all  "religious 
worship,  and  the  diversity  of  its  forms ;"  and  to 
this  alone  he  attributes  it  that  men  "  adore  invisi- 
ble and  superior  powers  ;  it  impels  them  to  disco- 
ver methods  of  communicating  with  them  ;  to  ap- 
pease their  anger ;  to  seek  their  forgiveness,  and  to 
obtain  their  aid  and  blessing."  The  inference 
plainly  deduced  therefrom,  is  that  the  recognition 
of  the  Supreme  Deity,  and  our  relation  to  Him,  as 
well  as  the  duty  of  prayer  and  religious  homage 
which  Christianity  inculcates,  have  no  other  origin 
or  authority  than  this  "  innate,  universal  and  inde- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  39 

structible  sentiment."  And  accordingly  we  find 
him  quoting  and  adopting  the  language  of  Dr. 
Gall,  the  father  of  modern  phrenology,  descrip- 
tive of  the  idolatries  of  heathenism,  in  all  their 
number  and  variety,  as  illustrating  and  confirm- 
ing his  views. 

From  such  gross  forms  of  religion,  which  "  pow- 
erfully strike  the  senses,"  and  which  the  author 
says  are  the  only  forms  which  can  benefit  "  sava- 
ges and  barbarians,"  he  attempts  to  show  that  the 
pure  and  spiritual  form  of  Christianity  has  de- 
scended in  regular  succession  by  the  cultivation 
and  improvement  of  the  *'  religious  sentiment,  "  in 
the  ratio  in  which  mankind  have  improved  and 
progressed  in  knowledge.  Hence,  he  says,  the 
religion  of  the  Hebrews  was  adapted  to  their  in- 
telligence, and,  for  a  time,  was  undoubtedly  the 
best  for  them ;  and  as  mankind,  at  the  period  of 
Christ,  had  still  farther  "progressed  in  knowledge," 
Christianity  was  substituted  for  the  law  or  religion 
of  Moses,  which  was  not  now  sufficiently  pure,  spi- 
ritual and  ennobling  for  the  times.  In  the  present 
"  improved  condition  of  mankind"  in  knowledge, 
we  must  not  therefore  be  shocked  at  the  proposi- 
tion, that  Christipmity  should  be  considered  super- 
annuate, and  be  substituted  by  the  improved  reli- 
gion of  Dr.  Brigham. 

The  reader  is  probably  aware,  that  the  phrase 
'*  religious  sentiment,"  and  the  doctrines  here  ad- 
vanced in  its  explanation  and  defence,  are  purely 


40  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

phrenological.  Dr.  Gall,  the  father  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  Dr.  Spurzhcim,  his  pu])il,  and  the  elo- 
quent advocate  of  the  doctrine,  divide  the  human 
brain  into  thirty-five,  or  more,  compartments,  to 
each  of  which  they  ascribe  certain  propensities,  sen- 
timcjits,  and  intellectual  faculties.  The  "  religious 
sentiment"  on  which  the  author  before  us  builds  his 
theory  and  his  book,  is  that  bump  or  prominence 
on  the  top  of  the  head,  which  Dr.  Gall  denominates 
the  "  organ  of  theosophy,"  and  is  called  by  Spurz- 
heim  the  *'  organ  of  veneration."  The  doctrine 
of  the  system  is,  that  men  have  no  ideas  on  any 
subject,  but  through  certain  organs  in  the  brain, 
which  originate  or  give  birth  to  them.  This  organ 
is  that  which  gives  man  the  idea  of  a  God,  or  at 
least  of  some  superior  and  invisible  powers  or 
beings,  and  prompts  to  devotion,  constituting  man 
a  worshiping  animal.  The  existence  of  this 
organ,  which  is  the  seat  of  the  "  religious  senti- 
ment" phrenologists  tell  us,  proves  that  religion 
is  founded  in  nature,  and  they  generally  agree  that 
it  has  no  othei  origin.  This  brief  explanation  will 
serve  to  show  what  the  author  means  when  he 
speaks  of  the  "  religious  sentiment ;"  and  the 
reader  will  perceive  the  legitimate  tendency  of 
such  a  system.  It  is  not  within  our  province,  at 
present,  to  pursue  the  subject  farther  than  is  neces- 
sary in  the  examination  of  the  work  under  notice. 
In  order  that  we  may  fully  discover  the  claims 
of  our  author,  to  the  superior  station  he  assumes 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  41 

as  a  great  reformer  of  the  "  ignorance,  ambition 
and  fanaticism,"  which  he  affirms  have  "  marred 
the  incomparable  purity  of  the  Christian  religion," 
and  "  injured  the  health  and  physical  welfare  of 
mankind,"  it  is  only  necessary  to  examine  the 
brief  exhibit  of  his  creed,  which  is  given  in  the 
*'  introduction"  to  his  book.  The  following  seems 
to  be  a  summary  of  the  articles  of  religion,  to 
which  Dr.  Brigham  subscribes. 

I.  Of  God,  and  the  Holy  Bible, 

In  the  language  of  Dr.  Spurzheim,  "  The  Old 
and  New  Testament  attribute  very  different  quali- 
ties to  the  Supreme  Being, — the  God  of  Israel 
was  jeakms,  rcveng(ful  and  terrible,  a  God  of  icar ! 
the  God  of  the  Christians,  on  the  contrary,  is  love, 
benevolence  and  cltarity.'''' 

II.  Oftlie  Religious  Sentiment, 

"  It  is  a  part  of  man's  nature  to  believe  in  gods 
of  some  kind  or  other,  which  arises  from  the  reli- 
pious  sentiment  which  is  innate  in  man,  and  Is  the 
most  powerful  of  his  sentiments.  All  religious 
worship,  and  the  diversity  of  its  forms,  as  well  as 
the  innumerable  objects  of  adoration  result  from 
it.  From  this  religious  sentiment  has  successively 
proceeded,  human  sacrifices,  circumcision,  emas- 
culation, flagellation,  woundingthe  body  by  cutting 
instruments,  anchylosis  of  joints,  austerities,  pe- 
nances, monachism,  fasting,  tlie  Lord's  supper, 
4*' 


49  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

baptism,  night  meetings,  camp  meetings,  protract- 
ed meetings,  ringing  of  bells,  and  modern  revi- 
vals. This  innate  religious  sentiment  has  led  to 
most  cruel  and  destructive  wars,  bloodshed,  muti- 
I'ating  the  body,  exciting  the  brain,  destroying  the 
mind,  and  producing  insanity,  murder,  and  sui- 
cide. This  religious  sentiment  was  imj)Ia?itccl  in 
mankind  by  their  Creator,  and  for  it  Dr.  B.  en- 
tertains profound  respect  /" 

III.  Of  Christicmity, 

"  Christ  imposed  no  forms  of  religious  worship 
on  men, — he  established  710  ceremonies^ — he  gave 
no  creed  for  all  to  embrace,  he  did  not  seek  for  unity 
in  forms  of  worship ^  but  only  to  establish  uniform 
morality.  When  a  barbarian  abolishes  of  his 
own  accord  polygamy,  the  mutilation  of  the  body, 
castes,  slavery,  tyranny  and  fanaticism,  these  abo- 
minations once  gone,  the  barbarian  becomes  a  Chris- 
tian^ and  be  he  a  follower  of  Mohammed,  he  may 
justly  call  himself  a  disciple  of  Jesus.  The  gos- 
pel is  to  civilize  the  world,  by  building  up  new 
opinions  among  heathen  nations,  but  not  by  de- 
stroying their  yresent  creeds  /" 

IV.  Of  Spirituality, 

"  The  spiritual  nature  of  the  Christian  religion 
is  its  tendency  to  strengthen  and  exercise  the  mind 
of  man,  his  moral  and  intellectual  powers.  And 
in  the  phrase,  fruits  of  the  spirit,  nothitig  superna- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM,  4S 

tural  is  meant,  but  only  the  fruits  or  natural  rcs^dts 
of  the  MIND  of  man,  for  God  has  710  stqjernatural 
dealings  ivith  men  /" 

These  four  articles  of  religion  are  expressed  as 
nearly  as  possible  in  the  precise  language  of  the 
author,  and  the  intelligent  and  candid  reader  will 
be  constrained  to  confess,  that  he  is  in  no  respect 
misrepresented.  And  although  other  articles, 
equally  startling,  might  easily  be  prepared  from 
the  materials  contained  in  the  "  introduction"  to 
his  book,  yet  we  forbear,  as  these  are  amply  suf- 
ficient for  our  purpose.  They  will  serve  to  show 
the  qualifications  of  the  author  to  the  office  he  as- 
sumes, of  being  ti  censor  morum  in  religious  things, 
and  explain  the  nature  of  that  "  calm,  simple  and 
pure  manner  of  worship  recommended  by  our 
Savior,"  which  the  author  proposes  to  restore,  as 
well  as  that  '*  religious  sentiment,"  for  which  he 
"  entertains  profound  respect !" 

Nothins:  can  be  more  manifest  than  that  the 
Doctor's  creed  is  a  virtual  denial  of  the  Bible, 
and  a  rejection  of  the  Christianity  inculcated  in 
that  sacred  book ;  and  that  any  disciple  of  ration- 
alism, any  deist,  or  any  atheist  in  the  land  might 
consistently  adopt  it  in  gross  and  in  detail.  The 
God  of  whom  he  speaks,  is  evidently  none  oth«r 
than  a  figure  of  speech,  a  mere  rhetorical  flourish. 
His  Christ,  of  whom  he  says  so  many  favorable 
things,   compared   with   other   early    reformers, 


44  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGIIAM. 

seems  to  be  only  a  metonyme  or  personification* 
of  truth,  love,  charity,  self-denial,  &c.,  virtues 
which  he  says  men  ought  to  be  taught  to  worship  ; 
or  at  most  he  can  be  regarded  only  as  another 
"human  sacrifice,"  prompted  by  the  innate  "reli- 
gious sentiment,"  impelling  men  to  "  appease  the 
anger  and  seek  the  forgiveness  of  invisible  and 
superior  powers,"  for  all  nations  "  believe  in  gods 
of  some  kind  or  other."  And  as  to  the  "  religious 
sentiment"  itself,  the  author  means  no  more  than 
that  wherever  he  is  found,  "man  is  a  worship- 
ing animal ;" — while  his  definition  of  spirituality 
would  suit  the  atmosphere  of  materialism,  and 
is  sufficiently  sublimated  for  that  of  any  shade  of 
infidelity  or  irreligion.  Indeed,  throughout  the 
whole  volume,  there  is  scarcely  a  single  sentiment 
advanced,  or  even  an  opinion  which  a  man  could 
not  safely  adopt,  while  avowing  himself  an  enemy 
of  Christianity,  or  saying  in  his  heart,  and  with 
his  tongue,  "there  is  no  God."  And  it  is  truly 
painful  to  add,  tha,t  much  of  the  caricature  and 
ribaldry  with  which  Christianity,  and  its  profes- 
sors are  treated  in  parts  of  this  book,  would  com- 
pare with  the  vulgarity  of  Tom  Paine,  or  the  still 
more  loathsome  profanity  of  Fanny  Wright.  See 
pages  G3,  224,  27G,  234,  321,  32S,  &c. 

But  we  are  constrained  to  add  another  and  still 
more  serious  disqualification  to  that  implied  in  the 
infiJdiffj  of  our  author,  for  it  is  possible  for  a  man 

*  See  page  321. 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  45 

to  write  ably  and  learnedly  upon  a  subject,  in 
which  he  has  no  measure  of  belief  or  confidence, 
provided  he  has  made  himself  acquainted  with  its 
nature.  In  the  present  case,  however,  we  have 
an  example  of  a  man,  a  gentleman,  a  scholar,  and 
a  physician,  undertaking  to  enlighten  the  com- 
munity upon  a  subject,  in  relation  to  which  he 
betrays,  not  merely  deficient  knowledge,  hut  total, 
absolute  is^norancc.  We  are  aware  that  this  is  a 
serious  charge,  and  though  the  articles  of  his  creed 
amply  sustain  the  allegation,  that  Dr.  B.  is  utterly 
ignorant  of  the  nature  of  religion,  yet,  for  the  sa- 
tisfaction of  the  reader,  still  farther  illustration  is 
at  hand. 

Let  the  title  of  his  book,  "  Influence  of  religion 
upon  the  health  and  physical  welfare  of  mankind," 
be  considered  in  connexion  with  the  whole  tenor 
and  tendency  of  the  publication.  And  shall  the 
reader,  form  his  estimate  of  "  religion,"  by  the 
"  influence"  which  the  author  labours  to  attribute 
to  it?  What  then  is  its  "influence"  upon  the 
health  and  physical  welfare  of  mankind  ?  If  this 
book  is  to  be  believed,  it  is  "  evil,  only  evil,  and 
that  continually."  For  among  the  effects  of  its 
influence,"  he  enumerates  almost  all  "  tlie  ills 
that  flesh  is  heir  to,"  such  as  "  mutilation  of  the 
body,  flagellation,  injury  to  the  brain  and  nervous 
system,  melancholy,  insanity,  suicide,  and  the 
destruction  of  human  beings."  And  are  these  the 
effects  of  the  influence  of  religion  t    They  are  such 


46  REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

as  this  book  is  designed  to  exhibit,  and  none  but 
such  are  here  dwelt  upon.  With  such  views  of 
religion,  the  title  of  the  book  should  have  been 
essentially  different,  if  its  real  character  was  not 
designed  to  be  concealed.  It  should  have  been 
*'  Observations  on  the  influence  of  religion  inpro- 
ducingwars,  bloodshed,  sichiess,  insa?iity,  and  dcath.^^ 
The  reader  would  then  have  been  prepared  for  the 
contents  of  the  volume,  by  reading  its  name.  But 
the  author  utterly  fails  in  tracing  any  of  the  mis- 
chiefs, cruelties,  or  abominations,  he  describes,  to 
the  "influence  o^  religion ;^^  though  he  ascribes 
them  all  to  the  "  religious  sentiment,"  for  which, 
nevertheless,  he  "  entertains  profound  respect !" 
because,  as  he  says,  it  was  "  implanted  in  man  by 
his  Creator!" 

If,  however,  all  this  does  not  fully  convict  him 
of  utter  and  hopeless  ignorance  of  the  true  nature 
of  religion,  let  us  examine  for  a  moment  his  pre- 
tensions to  a  knowledge  of  the  scriptures  upon 
which  he  ventures  profound  and  sapient  criticism. 
Speaking  of  the  character  of  Abraham,  the  father 
of  the  faithful,  that  venerable  patriarch,  who  was 
justly  styled  "  the  friend  of  God!"  he  says,  "In 
Abraham,  we  do  not  find  that  nice  and  I0II3'  sense 
of  veracity,  which  distinguishes  a  state  of  society 
where  the  point  of  honor  has  acquired  great  in- 
fluence." Now  had  the  author  been  at  all  ac- 
quainted with  the  Bible,  he  would  never  have 
hazarded  his  reputation  for  intelligence  and  can- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  ERIGHAM.  47 

dour  by  such  an  assertion.  Has  he  overlooked,  in 
his  history  of  Abraham,  his  hospitaUty  to  strangers, 
Gen.  xviii.  ;  his  generosity  to  his  nephew,  eh. 
xiii.  ;  his  uprightness  in  war,  ch.  xiv. ;  his  com- 
passion towards  the  sinners  of  Sodom,  ch.  xviii. ; 
his  tenderness  towards  Hagar  and  her  son,  ch. 
xxi. ;  and  his  "  nice  and  lofuj  sense  of  justice,  po- 
liteness, and  honor,  in  the  transaction  recorded 
ch.  xxiii.  It  is  plain,  that  the  Doctor  must  regard 
Abraham  in  the  same  light  as  he  regards  the  God 
of  Abraham,  for  of  the  Great  Supreme,  he  affirms, 
that  He  is  both  a  "  God  of  war,  and  a  God  of 
love,"  which  he  attempts  to  sustain  by  a  compa- 
rison of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.    Estimating 

o 

thus  the  God  of  the  Bible  as  a  compound  of  good 
and  evil,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  should 
indulge  in  criminations  and  censures  against  His 
faithful  servants. 

But  his  ignorance  is  still  more  apparent  in  the 
remarks  on  page  17,  in  relation  to  the  Jews,  of 
whom  he  asserts,  en  masse,  that  "  they  were  not 
a  people  of  high  moral  endowments,  and  no  indi- 
viduals amo7ig  them  of  whom  we  have  any  accoimt,  can 
properly  be  referred  to  as  examples  worthy  of  all 
imitation.  The  reader  will  perceive  from  this 
single  sentence,  that  the  author  either  measures 
the  saints  of  God  by  a  standard  of  morality  high- 
er than  the  "  law  of  the  Lord,"  or  he  must  be  ig- 
norant of  the  self-denying  spirit  of  Moses — the  dis- 
interestedness of  Caleb  and  Joshua — the  spotless 


48  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

integrity  of  Samuel  and  the  prophets,  and  the 
righteousness  of  Zechariah  and  Elizabeth,  to 
name  no  other  of  the  Jewish  worthies  of  sacred 
memory,  whom  he  has  impugned  b}''  his  sweep- 
ing denunciation. 

It  were  easy  to  show  from  the  *'  introduction  " 
alone,  that  the  author  of  this  book  is  not  only  an 
unbeliever  in  religion,  because  ignorant  of  its  na- 
ture, but  that  he  is  equally  ignorant  of  the  nature 
of  man.  His  first  sentence  reads  thus  :  "  The  re- 
ligious sentiment  appears  to  be  innate  in  man." 
And  is  this  true  f  How  does  it  "  appear  ?  "  Has 
a  child  any  idea  of  religion,  or  of  the  being  of  a 
God,  until  such  idea  is  implanted  by  some  kind  of 
education,  or  by  the  Divine  Spirit  ?  Certainly 
not ;  no  more  than  he  has  of  inhabited  worlds  be- 
yond the  region  of  the  fixed  stars.*  But  he  goes 
still  farther,  and  adds,  that  this  "religious  senti- 
ment forms  a  part  of  man^s  nature  as  truly  as  he- 
ncvolence.''''  Here  then  he  maintains  that  *'  bene- 
volence is  a  part  of  man's  nature. "t     But  what 

*  This,  however,  is  one  of  the  dogmas  of  phrenology,  and  the 
organ,  the  presence  of  which  is  indicated  by  a  "  bump  "  on  the 
top  of  the  head,  is  the  source  whence  the  "  idea  of  God  and  reli- 
gion "  infallibly  emanates. 

t  Certainly  ;  for  there  is  another  "bump  "  on  the  anterior  part  of 
the  skull,  called  "  moral  sense  "  by  Gall,  and  "  benevolence  "  by 
Spurzheim  ;  and  this  organ  necessarily  generates  "  benevolence," 
since  it  is  there  for  the  purpose  ;  and  besides,  all  phrenologists 
agree  that  "■  man  is  naturally  good,"  for  this  "  organ  "  is  found  in 
the  heads  of  all  men,  though  semetimes  its  quality  is  overcome  by 
opposite  sentiments,  because  of  the  greater  development  of  "de- 
tructiveness  "  and  the  like. 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  49 

says  the  Bible,  that  book  of  books ;  without  a 
knowledge  of  which,  it  is  presumption  either  to 
write  or  speak  upon  the  subject  of  religion  ?  An 
inspired  apostle,  whose  knowledge  of  man's  na- 
ture was  acquired  in  "  the  third  heaven,"  describes 
the  moral  state  of  mankind  in  this  and  the  like 
language:  ^''Haters  of  God;  ^^  ^^  without  God;^' 
'■^  without  natural  affection,  implacahle,  unmerciful ;'''' 
'■^enmity  against  God.^^  These  and  multiplied 
other  testimonies  of  inspiration  might  be  adduced 
to  prove  the  infidelity  of  the  doctrine  that  either 
*' benevolence,"  "  religious  sentiment,"  or  ''any 
good  thing"  dwells  in  man,  or  is  innate  in  his  na- 
ture.* The  apostle's  melancholy  description  of  the 
natural  state  of  man  would  fully  accord,  however, 
with  the  author's  accusations  against  the  "  reli- 
gious sentiment"  of  which  he  speaks,  though  the 
reader  will  hardty  be  prepared  to  believe  that 
this  is  "implanted  in  man  by  his  Creator,"  nor 
can  he  fail  to  marvel  that  such  a  "sentiment" 
should  still  have  the  author's  "  profound  respect." 
We  need  only  allude  to  one  more  instance  in 
proof  of  the  author's  deplorable  ignorance  of  the 
nature  of  man  ;  and  for  this  purpose  would  refer 
the  reader  to  the  strong  affirmation  he  makes  in  the 
following;  interrofratorv  :     "  Who  has  not  seen  the 


*  Had  he  affirmed  that  "  atheism^ ^  is  innate  in  man,  and  consti- 
tutes a  part  of  his  nature  as  much  as  '^selfishness,'^  he  would  have 
conformed  his  doctrine  to  the  Bible,  however  it  might  have  con- 
flicted with  phrenology. 

5 


r50  REVIEW    OF    DK.    BRIGHAM. 

lascivious  man,  the  drunkard,  the  reveller  become 
chaste  and  temperate  by  tlie  exertion  of  his  own 
moral  iwiccrs  7 '*'*  This  question  is  proposed  in  a 
ludicrous  argument  he  attempts  to  invalidate  the 
Scriptural  doctrine  of  the  supcrnatura]  influence 
of  the  Spirit  in  regeneration,  which  he  unequivo- 
cally denies.  In  answer  to  his  query,  we  are  con- 
strained to  assert,  and  w^e  do  so  on  the  authority  of 
infallible  inspiration  too,  that  no  man  has  seen  ii,  or 
evc7'  ivill  sec  it,  "  Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his 
skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots  r  then  may  ye  do 
good  who  are  accustomed  to  do  evil."  This  in- 
terrogative form,  chosen  by  the  prophet,  is  the 
strongest  possible  affirmation  of  the  negative  of 
Dr.  B.'s  position,  and  is  a  distinct  and  unequi- 
vocal declaration,  that  man  cannot  "  by  the  exer- 
tion of  his  own  moral  powers,"  effect  the  revolu- 
tion in  his  moral  nature  and  habits,  which  the  au- 
thor concedes  to  result  from  the  religion  he  gain- 
sa3^s  and  rejects. 

As  then  it  appears  plain  from  the  evidences 
thus  briefly  presented,  that  the  author  of  the  w^ork 
before  us,  is  an  unbeliever  in  the  strongest  sense 
of  that  term,  however  he  may  be  sell-deceived  ; 
and  it  being  equally  evident  that  he  is  profoundly 
ignorant  of  wdiat  true  religion  is,  and  equally  so, 
of  the  character  and  nature  of  man,  we  think  we 
have  fully  made  out  our  charge,  that  he  is  utterly 
disqualified  from  treating  the  subject  he  has  had 
the  temerity  to  attempt.     He  must  not  complain 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  51 

then  at  the  retribution  which  will  be  the  reward 
of  such  rashness  and  presumption,  by  reason  of 
the  exposure  of  his  mistakes  and  egregious  mis- 
representations, which  duty  to  the  cause  of  truth 
imperiousl}^  demands.  And  the  reader  will  be 
prepared  to  appreciate  the  degree  of  credibility 
with  which  his  sentiments  and  affirmations  are 
to  be  received.  Indeed  we  cannot  refrain  from 
offering  additional  testimony,  since  the  same  la- 
mentable deficiency  of  knowledge  is  discoverable 
on  almost  every  page,  and  in  almost  every  depart- 
ment of  his  subject.  For  example,  let  the  reader 
notice  the  statement  on  page  20.  "  All  great  re- 
forms in  the  moral  world  are  the  result  of  lono-  and 
previous  instruction  of  the  mass  of  the  people ;" 
whence  he  argues  that  no  great  reform  could  suc- 
ceed unless  the  v/orld  was  prepared  for  it  by 
*'  previous  cultivation  of  the  moral  and  intellectual 
powerst"  Here  it  is  obvious  that  he  builds  his 
pyramid  upon  its  apex,  for  the  reverse  of  his  pro- 
position is  the  truth,  even  in  the  cases  he  refers  to 
for  its  proof  Every  reformation  this  world  has 
ever  seen,  has  been  effected  in  the  face  of  violent 
and  perseverhjg  opposition,  and  in  general  the  op- 
position has  been  conducted  by  those  of  the  higher 
classes  of  society,  whose  "  moral  and  intellectual 
powers  "  were  arrayed  against  reform.  Witness 
the  great  reformations  resulting  from  the  labors  of 
Christ,  and  Paul,  and  Luther,  and  Wesley,  and 
Wilberforce,  and  others.     So  far  from  the  world 


52  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

having  been  prepared  by  "long  nnd  previous  in- 
struction of  the  mass  of  the  people,"  these  reform- 
ers have  succeeded,  although  called  upon  to  resist 
the  whole  torrent  of  public  opinion.  And  the  al- 
lusion he  has  made  to  the  "temperance  reforma- 
tion "  in  our  own  country,  is  singularly  unfortu- 
nate for  his  purpose,  and  betra3^s  a  most  deplora- 
ble and  inexcusable  want  of  information.  He  sa3^s, 
that  the  "  friends  of  the  temperance  cause  would 
have  toiled  in  vain  half  a  century  before,"  and  at- 
tributes their  success  to  the  "improved  state  of  so- 
ciet}-;"  intimating  that  "long  and  previous  instruc- 
tion of  the  mass  of  the  people"  had  also  preceded 
this  reform.  But,  unhappily  for  his  theory,  the 
converse  of  this  statement  is  notoriously  the  fact, 
for  on  the  promulgation  of  the  doctrine  of  total  ab- 
stinence by  the  noble  spirits  who  originated  this 
work,  the  "  mass  of  the  people,"  b}^  reason  of  their 
"long  and  previous  instruction,"  were  at  once  in 
battle  array  against  them.  And  that  eminentl}^ 
successful  philanthropist,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hewitt, 
who  is  a  near  neighbor  of  the  author,  could  fur- 
nish ample  reminiscences  from  the  journal  of  his 
early  labors,  to  annihilate  Dr.  Brigham  and  his 
theory.  That  distinguished  champion  undertook 
this  mighty  reform  when  the  pulpit  and  tlie  press, 
the  learning  and  the  ignorance,  the  theory  and  the 
practice  of  the  nation,  with  very  rare  exceptions, 
in  one  mighty  phalanx  reared  a  formidable  bar- 
rier against  him.     He  and  his  coadjutors,  with  no 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  53 

otlier  weapon  than  omnipotent  truth,  went  forth 
to  the  battle,  and  beat  down  every  opposition, 
whether  "  moral  or  intellectual  "  which  stood  in 
their  way.  They  found  public  opinion  wrong; 
they  proclaimed  it  so  in  tones  of  thunder;  they 
avovv^ed  their  purpose  to  change  and  reform  it; 
and  they  have  literally  *'  turned  the  world  upside 
down."  It  was  the  had  state  of  societ}^  and  not 
its  "  inqji-ovcd  co7idition,"  which  rendered  the  re- 
form necessary,  and  by  reason  of  which  it  has 
been  thus  far  successful. 

But  our  author  commits  himself  still  more  egre- 
giously,  for  after  stoutly  maintaining  that  Boudd- 
hisrae  has  improved  Brahmanisme  in  India,  as 
Protestantism  has  improved  Romanism,  by  render- 
ing it  less  intolerant  and  cruel,  he  affirms  that 
Mahomedanismhas  2/??proi'e<:Z  the  "religious  senti- 
ment" of  the  ferocious  Arabs,  because,  as  he 
says,  the  prophet  abolished  the  horrible  crimes  of 
*'  robbery,  assassination,  selling  their  women  as 
slaves,  and  burying  their  daughters  alive."  Now 
had  the  author  acquainted  himself  with  the  sub- 
ject before  he  wrote,  he  would  have  known  that 
these  precise  abominations  are  still  perpetrated, 
and  perpetuated  among  the  Mahomedans,  without 
an}'  evidence  of  the  improvement  he  names. 

But  we  Ibrbear  to  pursue  the  author  in  the  nu- 
merous blunders  he  has  committed  in  the  "  intro- 
duction" to  his  work,  and  shall  now  proceed  to  re- 
mark upon  its  contents,  in  the  order  they  are  pre- 
5* 


54  REVIEW  OF  DR.  ERIGHAM. 

sented.  His  first  chapter  is  on  "  Human  Sacri- 
fices," which  he  admits  are  the  most  deplorable 
of  all  the  effects  of  the  "  religious  sentiment,''^ 
though  they  are  introduced  in  illustration  of  the 
"  influence  of  religion  upon  the  health  and  ph3^si- 
cal  welfare  of  mankind.' '  The  reader  will  dis 
tinctly  perceive,  that  there  is  not  the  remotest  par- 
ticle of  affinity  between  "  religion"  and  this  "  reli- 
gious sentiment"  of  the  author,  and  yet  he  uses 
these  terms  as  perfect  synonymes.  That  there  is, 
and  can  be  no  analogy  between  them,  will  appear 
manifest  from  his  own  definitions. 

1.  "  The  religious  sentiment  is  innate  in  man." 
Religion  is  not  innate  in  man. 

2.  "  The    religious  sentime7it   is  a  yart  of   man's 


Religion  is  no  part  of  man's  nature,  and  is  at 
war  with  fallen  nature. 

3.  "  The  religioiis  sentime7U  prompts  men  to  wor- 

ship gods  of  some  kind  or  other." 
Religion  teaches  the  worship  of  one  living  and 
true   God,   and  forbids  the  worship  of  any 
other. 

4.  "  The    religious    sentiment   produces  wars   and 

bloodshed,  and  the  destruction   of  hunum  be- 

i?igs.^^ 
Religion  produces  j^eace  on  earth  and  good  will 

to  men, 
A  similar  contrariety  might  be  exhibited  be- 
tween every  characteristic  ascribed  by  the   au- 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  55 

thor  to  the  religious  sentiment,  and  the  distinguish- 
ing features  of  rehgion,  but  these  are  sufficient  for 
our  purpose,  which  is  to  prove,  that  Dr.  Brigham 
has  fallen  into  this  fundamental  error  of  identify- 
ing religion  and  the  "  religious  sentiment ;"  a 
blunder  which  necessarily  vitiates  and  nulhfies 
his  whole  performance,  since  they  are,  as  we 
have  shown,  not  only  essentially  dissimilar,  but 
are  antipodal  to  each  other.  The  effects  attri- 
buted by  him  to  the  religious  sentiment,  so  far 
from  being  justly  chargeable  upon  religion,  are 
all  the  result  of  the  absence  of  religion.  This  is 
eminently  the  case  with  the  subject  of  "  human 
sacrifices,"  which  is  the  theme  of  his  first  chap- 
ter ;  for  these  were  never  authorized  or  permittetl 
by  true  religion,  in  any  period  of  the  world,  and 
their  general  discontinuance,  of  which  the  author 
speaks,  is  demonstrative  evidence  against  him, 
since  this  has  resulted  every  where  among  those 
nations  to  whom  the  gospel  has  communicated  the 
light  and  influence  of  religion,  and  they  are  now 
only  continued  where  religion  is  not  known. 

The  author,  however,  alternately  charges  hu- 
man sacrifices  upon  the  "  religious  sentiment,'* 
and  upon  religion  itself,  and  this  too  in  the  face  of 
the  testimony  he  himself  presents  from  the  Old 
Testament,  demonstrating,  that  upon  these  abomi- 
nations the  almighty  Author  of  religion  denounces 
his  heaviest  judgments  and  anathemas.  Indeed, 
these  very  quotations  are  sufficient  to  prove  that 


5(j  REVIEW  OF  DR.  ERIGHAM. 

ulolatnj,  wbicli  is,  and  alvva3^s  was,  the  height  of 
irreligio7i,  has  been  the  proh'fic  source  of  all  the 
human  sacrifices  ever  known  in  the  world.  These 
cruel  abominations,  as  related  by  the  author,  and 
diligently  gathered  from  the  pages  of  history,  for 
the  purpose,  are  all  of  them,  without  exception, 
examples  of  worship  paid  to  idols,  and  imaginary 
gods,  who  are  unknown  to  religion,  and  rejected 
by  it;  however  justly  they  ma}^  be  charged  upon 
the  fiction  of  the  author's  brain,  which  he  calls,  in 
phrenological  language,  "  the  religious  sentiment," 
and  which  seems  uppermost  in  all  his  thoughts. 

No  farther  evidence  is  desirable  to  convict  him 
of  the  consummate  folly  of  mistaking  religion  for 
this  religious  sentiment,  than  is  found  in  the  fol- 
lowing sentence,  p.  34,  of  his  book. 

"  It  is  as  idle  to  talk  of  a  nation  without  rcU- 
gion,  as  without  love  of  offspring,*  or  any  otiter 
instinctive  propensity!" 


*  The  "love  of  offspring,"  is  the  fruit  of  a  "  bump"  or  organ 
in  the  posterior  part  of  the  head,  called  by  phretiologisrs,  "  phi- 
loprogenitiveness,"  and  is  regarded  in  that  philosophy  as  an  "  in- 
stinctive propensity"  truly.  And  when  cases  like  those  related 
by  the  author  are  alleged  as  objections  to  the  doctrine,  tliat  the 
organ  of  "  Destructiveness"  should  be  so  developed  bv  organiza- 
tion, as  to  predominate  over  "  philoprogenitiveness,"  Dr.  Gall 
replies,  that  this  is  a  proof  of  "  the  harmony  of  the  science  with 
nature,  for  man  is  confessally  an  assnnblage  vf  contrndictums." 
Hence  phrenologists  rcpol  the  charge  of  inconsistency,  by  slrovv- 
ing  that  as  is  man,  so  must  be  the  "  pliilosoi)hy  of  man,"  a  ''  bundle 
of  inconsistencies."     It  will  be  seen  on  page  41,  that  Dr.  B.  in 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  57 

Here,  then,  we  are  taught  that  "  religion"  is 
one  ^'' instinctive i)ro])ensity,'''*  and  the  "love  of  off- 
spring" is  another ;  while  on  the  same  page,  the 
author  records  as  "  human  sacrifices"  impelled  by 
religion,  that  among  some  heathen  nations,  pa- 
rents, "knowingly  and  wilfully,  go  through  the 
bloody  work  of  slaughtering  their  own  children, 
with  as  little  remorse  as  one  would  kill  a  lamb  or  a 
chicken  !"  Here,  then,  one  "  instinctive  propen- 
sity," reZ^o•^o?^,  annihilates  the  other  "instinctive 
propensity,"  "  love  of  offspring,"  and  changes  it 
to  the  most  envenomed  hatred  of  offspring,  and 
yet  he  tells  us  that  this  murderous  instinctive  pro- 
pensity was  "  implanted  in  man  by  his  Creator," 
and  says,  he  feels  for  it  "  profound  respect."  Nay, 
he  maintains  that  mankind  have  been  created  with 
these  dispositions,  and  he  zealously  argues,  that  a 
religion  which  imposed  these  absurd  and  cruel 
rites,  and  demanded  the  destruction  of  millions  of 
human  beings,  as  sacrifices  to  idol  gods,  is  greatly 
preferable  to  being  left  without  any  religion ;  and 
he  adds  to  the  bloody  catalogue  he  has  enumera- 
ted, "  I  am  of  opinion  that  all  religions  the  world 
have  ever  known  have  been  of  use,  and  they  have 


common  with  Spurzheim  and  other  phrenologists,  entertains  simi- 
lar views  of  the  nature  of  tlie  Supreme  Being,  and  represents 
Him  to  be  a  compound  of  good  and  bad  propensities,  alternately 
developed  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  he  even  appeals  to  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  for  his  proofs! 


5S  REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

proved  injurious  onhj  when  tlicy  have  failed  to 
keep  pace  with  the  progress  of  inteUigence." 

But  the  author,  unwittingly  as  it  would  seem, 
not  onl}^  maintains  the   identity  of  the   religious 
sentiment  with  religion,  but  he  regards  siijyerstition 
as  s^^ionymous  with  both.    This  precious  confes- 
sion is  made  on  page  35,  where  he  adopts  the  sen- 
timents of  Polybius,  in  confirmation  of  the  views 
previously  alluded  to,  who  declares,  that  "the  re- 
public of  Rome  was   sustained  by  suijerstition,'''' 
which  he  defines  to  be  "  the  opinions  entertained 
by  them  about  their  gods,"  and  which,  he  saj'S, 
was  a  creed,  "  contrived  for  the  sake  of  the  popu- 
lace."    He  adds,  "  if  a  society  could  be  formed 
of  wise  men  only,  such  a  scheme  would  not  be  ne- 
cessary ; — but  since  the  multitude  is  always  giddy 
and  agitated  by  illicit  desires,  wild  resentments, 
and  violent  passions,  there  was  no  way  left  of  re- 
straining them,  but  by  the  help  of  such  secret  ter- 
rors and  tragical  fictions  I     It  was  not,  therefore, 
without  great  prudence  and  foresight,  that  the  an- 
cients took  care  to  instil  into  them  these  notions  of 
the  gods,  and  infernal  imnishments  !  which  the  mo- 
derns are  now  rashly  and  absurdly  endeavoring 
to  extirpate."    It  is  immediately  in  connexion  with 
this  language  of  Polybius  that  the  author  observes, 
*'  I  am  of  opinion  that  all  religions  the  world  has 
ever  known  have  been  of  use? !"  thus  ranking  5?^- 
pcrstitionj  religion,    and  the  religious   sentiment, 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAAI.  59 

among  synonymous   terms,    and  exposing  what 
other  portions  of  the  volume  appear  designed  to 
conceal,  that  religion  is,  in  his  estimation,  a  "con- 
trivance for  the  sake  of  the  populace,"  useful,  it 
is  true,  though  accompanied  by  "  secret  terrors 
and  tragical  fictions."    It  is  true  the  author  claims 
to  be  a  Christian,  but  infidelity  personified  could 
desire  no  more  of  its  willing  votary.     The  Mo- 
saic, no  less  than  the  Christian  religion,  held  hu- 
man  sacrifices  in  abhorrence,  and  though  they 
may  be  justly  attributed  to  the  "  religious  senti- 
ment," which  is  synonymous  with  idolatry  andir- 
religion,  yet  religion  has  ever  abjured  and  prohi- 
bited them.     And  the  destruction  of  human  life, 
to  which  reference  is  had  by  the  author,  as  in  the 
case  of  the   innumerable  company  of  martyrs, 
the  horrid  murders  of  the  inquisition,  the  100,000 
executions  for  witchcraft,  and  the  massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew's  day,  all  of  which  he  charges  upon 
religion,  exhibit  either  a  shocking  perversion  of  his 
intellect,  or  something  infinitely  worse.     For  that 
all  these,  and  even  the  30,000  widows  annually 
immolated  upon  the  funeral  pile  of  their  husbands 
in  India,  should  be  included  under  the  sionificant 
head  of  the  "  influence  oi^  religion  upon  the  health 
and  physical  welfare  of  mankind,"  is  an  act  of 
impiety,  which  in  a  professed  Christian   is  an 
enormity  for  which  we  can  scarcely  find  a  name. 
In  the  second  chapter  the  author  introduces  the 
"  religious  rites  which  mutilate  the  human  body," 


GO  REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRTGHAM. 

and  he  enumerates  in  his  catalogue  ''  circumci- 
sion, emasculation,  flagellation,  wounding  the 
lx)dy  b}^  cutting  instruments,  and  anch3*losis  of 
joints  by  religious  ceremonies." 

Circumcision,    or    the    sign   and    seal   of  the 
Abrahamic  covenant,  an  ordinance  of  Divine  ap- 
}X)intment  is  selected  as  the  first  topic  of  his  cri- 
ticism, nor  does  the  sacredness  of  the  authorit}^ 
by  which   this  custom  was  introduced,  shield  it 
from  his  assault.     This  is  the  only  rite  justly  as- 
cribed to  relioion,  for  the  rest  have  arisen  from  the 
absence  of  religion,  or  what  he  calls  the  religious 
sentiment.     Nevertheless,  he  affirms  that  this  rite 
prevailed  before  the  time  of  Abraham,  for  which 
he  has  no  semblance  of  authority,  and  he  assigns 
physical  reasons  for  its  origin,  alleging  that  in 
warm  climates  this  was  resorted  to  for  health  and 
cleanliness,  and  thinks  it  probable  that  it  was  not 
at  fii'st  a  religious  custom.*     That  he   conflicts 
w^ith  the  authority  of  the  Bible  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at,  when  he  quotes  Gibbon,  that  prince  of 
infidels,   as  paramount  authority,  who  sa3^s  that 
"health  rather  than  superstition  first  invented  cir- 
cumcision," and  by  the  term  superstition,  this  in- 
fidel writer  obviously  means  the  identical  "reli- 
gious sentiment,"  for  which  the  author  pleads,  so 
that  Gibbon  contradicts  both  Dr.  Brigham   and 
the  Bible.     It  would  have  been  well  if  one  or 

*  Why  tlicn  does  he  eall  it  a  ''religious  rite?" 


Review  of  dr.  brigham.  61 

both  of  these  sapient  critics  had  accounted  for  the 
fact,  if  circumcision  prevailed  before  among  sur- 
rounding nations,  for  physical  reasons,  why  it  was 
that  on  the  "  self  same  day"  on  which  the  cove- 
nant was  made  between  Abraham  and  his  Maker, 
this  ceremony  was  performed  not  only  upon  him- 
self and  his  son  Ishmael,  but  upon  all  the  men  of 
his  house.  Why  was  it  that  Abraham  had  lived 
to  ''^  ninctij  and  nine  years,''''  without  having  con- 
formed to  this  prevalent  custom  ;  and  that  his  son 
of  thirteen  j^ears  of  age,  and  no  one  of  the  men 
in  his  house  had  ever  been  circumcised  until  that 
day,  if  "  health  rather  than  superstition  invented 
it."  It  is  painful  to  admit  the  evident  truth,  that 
both  Gibbon  and  the  author  have  advanced  this 
sentiment  for  the  self  same  reason,  that  they  both 
designed  to  discredit  the  inspired  history.  Of  the 
remaining  mutilating  rites  it  is  only  necessary  to 
say,  that  they  are  all  of  them  the  fruits  of  super- 
stition, or  the  religious  sentiment ;  but  all  of  them 
are  directly  contrary  to  true  religion,  and  prohibit- 
ed by  it.  It  is  idle,  therefore,  nay  more,  it  is  sa- 
crilegious trifling  to  include  these  among  the  effects 
resulting  in  whole  or  in  part  from  the  "  influence 
of  religion." 

In  the  introduction  to  the  third  chapter,  which 
embraces  "  austerities,  penances,  monachism,  and 
fasting,"  the  author  intimates,  that  "  it  is  natural 
to  man,  in  certain  stages  of  civilization,  to  believe 
the  Deity  to  be  a  malevolent  being  delighted  with 


62  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

the  misery  of  his  creatures,"  &c.  What  a  delec- 
table picture  we  have  here  of  this  religious  senti- 
ment which  is  **  innate  in  man,"  a  "part  of  his 
nature,"  *'  implanted  in  man  by  his  Creator,"  and 
deserving  "  profound  respect." 

With  respect  to  the  austerities  and  penances  of 
monachism,  religion  is  not  justly  chargeable  with 
them  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  with  this  absolute 
disclaimer  we  may  dismiss  these  with  the  same 
remark  contained  in  the  notice  of  the  former 
chapter.  But  in  relation  to  fasting  or  abstinence, 
which  is  a  scriptural  dut}^  and  a  pari  of  religion 
by  Divine  authority,  it  may  be  expected  that 
something  should  be  said  in  reply  to  the  gross  ca- 
ricature drawn  by  the  author.  He  affirms,  that 
"  it  was  not  till  after  the  death  of  the  Apostles 
that  fasting  was  considered  an  important  duty," 
and  "  that  Christ  did  not  authorize  fasting  from 
food,"  and  these  assertions  are  made  in  the  face  of 
the  plain  and  unequivocal  directions  of  Christ  in 
his  sermon  on  the  mount,  where  he  not  only  en- 
joins fasting,  but  adds  instructions  in  relation  to 
the  manner  of  fasting,  so  as  to  be  acceptable  to 
God. — Matt.  vi.  17, 18.  And  yet  the  author  de- 
clares authoritatively,  that  the  New  Testament 
does  not  authorize  any  other  fast  than  when  "  na- 
ture withdraws  the  appetite,  as  the  natural  result 
of  sorrow."  His  lamentable  want  of  information 
on  the  subject  of  which  he  writes,  must  excuse 
this  among  other  similar  blunders,  which  abound 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  63 

in  every  chapter  of  his  book.  As  regards  the  ef- 
fects of  fasting  upon  health,  we  have  but  a  single 
remark,  and  it  is  this,  whenever  fasting  is  carried 
to  the  extent  of  being  injurious  to  health,  it  has  no 
semblance  of  authority  from  religion,  but  is 
prompted  by  superstition  or  the  religious  senti- 
ment. 

Thus  far  our  author  has  chiefly  directed  his  at- 
tention to  the  effects  of  "the  religious  sentiment," 
as  seen  in  paganism  and  heathenism,  with  only 
occasional  reference  to  the  ceremonies  of  any  sect 
of  Christians.  In  the  fourth  chapter,  however,  he 
approaches  the  subject  of  Christianity  distinctive- 
ly, by  considering  "  the  influence  upon  health,  of 
some  of  the  rites,  sacraments  and  ceremonies  of 
the  Christian  church."  He  enumerates  the  seven 
sacraments  of  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Greek 
churches,  but  contents  himself  with  a  labored  cri- 
ticism upon  "  Tlie  Lord's  Supper  and  Baptism," 
because  these  are  very  generally  celebrated  in 
Christian  churches,  and  we  now  hear  no  more  of 
"the  religious  sentiment." 

Of  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  author  admits  that 
"  there  is  no  objection  to  it  on  account  oi  any  inju- 
rious effect  upon  health,  when  the  ceremony  is 
short,  and  does  not  interfere  with  the  nsual  meals 
of  the  day,  and  when  the  bread  and  ivi?ie,  or  what 
ever  else  is  used,  is  of  good  quality  and  taken  in 
small  quantity.'*''  In  this  preliminary  concession, 
every  thing  is  granted  which  the  practice  of  any 


64  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

sect  of  Christians  in  this  country,  or  in  the  world 
requires  where  the  Lord's  Supper  is  celebrated. 
1st.  The  ceremony  is  short.  2d.  It  does  not  in- 
terfere with  usual  meals.  3d.  The  bread  and 
wine  is  of  good  quality  ;  and  4th.  It  is  only  taken 
in  small  quantity.  As  with  these  conditions  no 
injurious  effect  upon  health  is  alleged  as  proba- 
ble, or  even  possible,  we  might  have  expected  that 
he  would  have  spared  any  farther  animadversions 
upon  the  subject.  But  instead  of  this,  he  proceeds 
to  describe  the  variety  in  the  ancient  and  modern 
forms  of  administering  this  ordinance,  and  the 
author  gravely  enlightens  his  readers  in  the  histo- 
ry and  mj^stery  of  the  recent  petty  fanatical  dis- 
putations among  some  dozen  or  more  illiterate 
zealots  and  ultraists  in  the  northern  and  eastern 
portion  of  this  country,  on  the  subject  of  substitu- 
ting some  other  article  for  ivine  in  the  sacrament. 
This  controversy,  to  which  he  attaches  immense 
importance,  attributing  it  to  "many  of  the  clergy 
of  this  country,"  has  been  regarded  as  too  insigni- 
ficant to  call  for  sober  refutation,  and  the  authors 
of  the  stupid  and  senseless  proposition  to  substi- 
tute "  tamarind  water,  molasses  and  water,"  and 
the  like,  for  the  "  fruit  of  the  vine"  will  acquire 
more  of  notoriety  and  publicity  by  the  notice  taken 
of  them  in  this  book,  than  they  could  otherwise 
have  hoped  to  acquire.  We  doubt,  however, 
whether  they  will  be  very  thankful  to  the  author 
for  perpetuating  a  piece  of  folly,  of  which  the  sen- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  65 

sible  portion  of  the  disputants  are  already  heartily 
ashamed. 

It  would  be  an  unanswerable  refutation  of  all 
the  author  has  said  on  this  subject,  to  allude  to  the 
fact,  that  notwithstanding  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  shockingly  perverted  and  abu- 
sed by  the  Corinthians,  and  called  forth  from  the 
apostle  the  most  pointed  rebuke,  yet  no  intimation 
is  given  that  the  ceremony  ought  to  be  abandoned, 
or  might  be  innocently  omitted,  in  consequence  of 
its  being  susceptible  of  this  abuse.  The  holy  apos- 
tle, however,  was  not  a  phrenologist,  and  he  did  not 
know  that  it  would  "  prove  injurious  to  health  and 
ought  to  be  abandoned,"  much  less  had  he  learn- 
ed, that  this  ordhiance  "  derives  no  support  from 
the  instructions  of  Christ." 

But  the  author  having  failed  to  make  out  his 
case  of  the  injurious  effect  upon  health,  produced 
by  any  form  of  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
he  nevertheless  proceeds  to  discuss  the  very  rele- 
vant subject,  whether  Christ  ever  instituted  it ;  and 
having,  as  he  sagely  imagines,  established  the  ne- 
gative of  the  proposition,  he  decides  ex  cathedra  that 
it  ought  to  be  abandoned.  He  quotes  from  the 
Evangelists  and  Robert  Barclay,  but  wholly  over- 
looks the  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  as 
though  this  was  no  part  of  the  sacred  canon. 
Had  he  read  the  eleventh  chapter  of  this  epistle, 
he  would  have  learned  the  Divine  authority  for 

the  institution  of  this  ordinance,  which  the  apostle 
6* 


66  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

affirms  be  "received  from  the  Lord,"  as  well  as 
for  its  perpetuation  to  the  end  of  time.  And  yet 
such  is  the  author's  ignorance  upon  the  subject 
upon  which  he  writes,  that  he  asserts  that 
the  institution  "  derives  no  support  from  the 
instructions  of  Christ,"  though  he  concedes  there 
is  "  a  slight  command  in  the  words,  "  Do  this  in 
remembrance  of  me."  Yet  as  it  is  only  "  a  slight 
command,"  and  as  there  is  "  no  authority  from 
reason  for  its  continuance,"  he  insists  it  ought  to 
be  abandoned. 

Among  other  objections,  the  author  alleges  that 
"  reflecting  and  in(|uiring  men  see  nothing  of  a 
moral  or  instructive  nature  in  this  ceremony." 
This  information  will  amaze  the  unsophisticated 
reader  who  has  become  at  all  acquainted  with  this 
sacred  subject,  even  in  theory.  The  institution 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  not  only  a  monumental  ce- 
lebration of  the  most  stupendous  event  in  this 
world's  history,  and  an  expressive  symbol  of  the 
most  important  doctrine  in  the  moral  universe,  but 
it  is  likewise  a  standing  and  irrefragable  evidence 
of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  as  well  as  the  Divinely 
appointed  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace.  And  yet 
the  author  and  his  "  reflecting  and  inquiring  "  bre- 
thren "  see  in  it  nothing  moral  or  instructive." 

But  his  strongest  objection  to  this  ordinance  is, 
that  "  it  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  worship  of  Christ 
himself,  v/hich  he  never  enjoined  upon  all  his  fol- 
lowers."    That  an  infidel  or  Socinian  should  take 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  67 

this  position  is  perfectly  natural,  but  for  a  Chris- 
tian to  present  such  an  objection,  is  both  inconsis- 
tent and  absurd.     But  the  author  has  so  little  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Scriptures,  that  he  affirms  that 
the  "  worship  of  Christ  implied  in  this  ceremony^ 
is  inconsistent  with  his  teachings,  in  which  he  "  al- 
ways Tce'pt  himself  out  of  sight  P"*  How  any  man  w^ould 
hazard  his    reputation   for  intelligence,  common 
sense,  or  common  honesty,  by  such  an  idle  asser- 
tion, with  the  Bible  in  his  hand,  it  would  puzzle  a 
Jesuit  to  determine.  Did  Christ  "  keep  himself  out 
of  sight"  when  he  taught  his  disciples,  saying,  "  I 
am  the  light  of  the  world. ''''  "  Without  me,  ye  can 
do  nothing."  "  1  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  begin- 
ning and  the  ending,  the  first  and  the  last."     "  If 
ye  believe  not  that  I  am  he,  ye  shall  die  in  your 
sins."     "  Jam  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life." 
"  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  ye  might  have 
life,"    "  land  the  Father  are  one."     Are  these  the 
proofs  that  in  the  "teachings  of  Christ  he  always 
kept  himself  out  of  sight  ?  "     And  does  the  wor- 
ship of  Christ  which  is  implied  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, so  grievously  offend  this  theological  cynic  ? 
What  then  does  he  do  with  the  plain  and  unequi- 
vocal declarations  of  Scripture  on  this  point?  '*  All 
men  should  honor  the  Son  even  as  they  honor  the 
Father."   "  At  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  shall 
bow."     *'  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to 
receive  power,    and    riches,    and   wisdom,   and 
strength,  and  honor,   and  glory,   and  blessing." 
"  To  Him  be  glory,  both  now  and  forever,  amen,'* 


68  r.EVTEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

But  wc  forbear  to  multiply  citations  in  a  case 
so  plain,  and  must  acknowledge  that  we  are  shock- 
ed at  the  temerity  which  has  led  the  author  into 
so  ridiculous  an  attitude  as  this  portion  of  the  vo- 
lume places  him.  Qiiem  Deus  vult  jyerdcrc^  jmus 
deinentat.  Surely  so  flagrant  misrepresentation  and 
sophistry  as  that  we  have  been  constrained  to  ex- 
pose, would  seem  to  imply  that  the  author  is  not 
only  destitute  of  any  species  of  information  on  the 
topics  he  pretends  to  discuss,  but  that  he  must 
have  been  deprived  of  his  reason.  If  we  were  to 
name  the  species  of  insanity  under  which  he  la- 
bors, we  could  not  call  it  ??20?zo-mania,  since  this  is 
not  the  only  topic  upon  which  he  appears  to  be 
Tion  comjxjs  mentis.  We  would  probably  be  obliged 
to  invent  a  term  significant  of  the  fact  that  he  is 
demented  not  on  one  topic,  but  on  many.,  and  hence 
call  his  malady  po/2/mania.  He  cannot  be  sus- 
pected of  religious  derangement  by  any  one  who 
reads  his  book,  unless  we  adopt  his  phrenological 
exposition  of  the  religious  sentiment,  and  account 
for  his  s3^mptoms  by  the  prominent  "  develop- 
ments "  which  depend  upon  "  his  organization." 

In  relation  to  the  ordinance  of  Baptism,  very 
nearly  similar  ground  is  taken.  He  first  describes 
the  various  modes  of  its  administration  in  difTe- 
rent  periods  of  the  church,  and  then  attempts  to 
prove  that  Christ  did  not  enjoin  baptism,  and  this 
in  the  face  of  the  Scripture  testimony,  part  of 
which   he  quotes.     He  ascribes  the  baptism  of 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  ERIGHAM.  69 

Christ  by  John  to  the  same  reason  which  influ- 
enced the  circumcision  of  Timothy,  wholly  disre- 
garding the  essentially  different  reasons  assigned 
by  inspiration.  The  command  of  Christ  to  go 
into  all  the  world,  baptizing,  &c.,  he  interprets  to 
mean,  giving  the  converts  a  new  name,  but  he  care- 
fully abstains  from  any  allusion  to  the  practice  of 
the  Apostles  under  that  commission,  and  the  mul- 
tiplied instances  of  baptisms  recorded  in  the 
Scriptures,  in  all  of  which  water  is  explicitly  stated 
to  have  been  employed,  and  nothing  at  all  said  of 
his  "  new  name.''''  But  it  were  idle  to  detain  the 
reader  by  any  farther  notice  of  such  consummate 
folly,  a  refutation  of  which  is  not  worthy  of  idiotic 
talents. 

In  his  remarks  on  the  effects  of  baptism  upon 
health,  he  maintains  that  the  mode  of  immersion 
is  dangerous,  especially  to  the  feeble,  to  infants, 
and  in  cold  ch mates  ; — but  he  does  not  presume 
to  urge  this  objection  against  the  modes  of  sprink- 
ling and  pouring,  but  singles  out  for  his  animad- 
versions those  few  cases  in  which  the  mode  or 
circumstances  may  prove  injurious  to  health.  He 
seems  sensible  of  the  imbecility  of  this  portion  of 
his  book,  in  which  he  arrives  most  truly  at  a  lame 
and  impotent  conclusion,  and  he  therefore  hastily 
winds  up  the  chapter  with  a  flourish  about  "  wash- 
ing feet"  and  "  kissing,"  which  is  too  puerile  to 
deserve  criticism.  In  this  connexion  he  again 
quotes  largely  from  "  the  excellent  Robert  Bar- 


70  REVIEW  OF    DR.  BRIGHAM. 

clay,"  wliosc  reasonings  he  pronounces  unan- 
swerable. If  he  had  weighed  Barclay's  reason- 
ings in  relation  to  "  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit," 
and  his  "  special  influence,"  he  would  have  found 
arguments  which  remain  unanswered,  because 
they  are  unanswerable.  Barclay  rejects  only 
"  the  outward  and  visible  signs"  of  these  ordi- 
nances, but  he  zealously  contends  for  the  "  inward 
and  spiritual  grace,"  which  is  the  substance  of 
that  which  the  former  only  "  shadow  forth  and 
symbolize. " 

But  Dr.  Brigham  utterly  repudiates  both  the 
substance  and  the  shadow ;  denying  the  "  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  by  consequence  the  figure 
divinely  appointed  to  represent  it ;  rejecting  the 
anti-type  he  would  annihilate  the  t3^pe,  which,  ac- 
cording to  his  philosophy,  is  unmeaning,  signify- 
ing nothing.  Abjuring  religion  itself,  he  can  have 
no  possible  use  for  any  of  its  forms,  rites,  and  ce- 
remonies. There  is,  therefore,  an  inconceivable 
moral  distance  between  these  two  writers,  for 
while  Dr.  B.  denies  both  the  form  and  the  ^j'ou'er 
of  religion  ;  Robert  Barclay  only  rejected  the 
"  form,"  because  of  his  confidence  in  the  "power 
of  godliness."  His  reason  for  dispensing  with 
*'  water  baptism,"  is  declared  by  himself  to  be  that 
this  was  only  a  figure  instituted  temporarily  in  the 
primitive  church,  and  is  rendered  unnecessary  now 
that  the  "  dispensation  of  the  spirit"  is  fully  come, 
because  the  shaduiv  may  be  dispensed  with,  when 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  71 

we  have  the  substance.  If  the  author  found  his 
*'  reasoning  unanswerable,"  as  he  affirms,  then  it 
is  plain  that  even  Robert  Barclay  has  proved  the 
"special  influence  of  the  spirit,"  beyond  the  power 
of  Dr.  Brigham's  philosophy  and  logic  to  refute, 
and  he  therefore  proves  too  much ;  since  both  the 
abrogation  of  "  water  baptism,"  and  the  '*  neces- 
sity of  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  which 
the  former  symbolized  and  prefigured,  are  sustain- 
ed by  the  same  "  unanswerable  reasonings."  And 
yet  they  seem  to  have  produced  no  other  impres- 
sion on  the  mind  of  the  latter,  than  to  lead  him  to 
the  rejection  both  of  "the  letter  and  the  Spirit." 
The  reason  will  presently  appear,  and  in  no  wise 
proves  that  Barclay's  argument  has  this  design  or 
tendency,  but  Dr.  Brigham  having  alreadij  rejected 
all  the  "  spirituality"  of  religion,  only  needed 
these  reasonings  to  authorize  a  similar  estimate  of 
its  "  forms." 

In  the  fifth  chapter  our  author  treats  of  places 
of  worship,  inconvenience  of  houses,  night  meet- 
ings, camp  meetings,  protracted  meetings,  and 
ringing  of  bells.  With  his  observations  on  the 
manner  of  building  and  furnishing  houses  of  wor- 
ship, so  as  to  make  them  comfortable  ;  and  with 
his  just  censures  on  the  carelessness  so  prevalent 
in  these  respects,  and  so  prejudicial  to  health,  we 
need  not  detain  the  reader.  Nor  are  we  at  all  dis- 
posed to  censure  the  merited  rebuke  given  by  the 
author,  to  those  who,  while  attending  church,  allow 


72  REVIEW  OF  DR.  ERIGHAM. 

their  horses  to  suffer  by  being  exposed  to  the 
weather.  On  these,  and  the  liivo  subjects,  the  au- 
thor is  quahficd  to  write  by  his  previous  studies, 
habits,  and  information,  and  were  he  equally  ac- 
quainted with  the  subject  of  religion,  this  book 
would  never  have  been  pubhshed. 

But  when  he  takes  up  the  subject  of  night 
meetings,  which  seem  to  be  his  peculiar  horror,  the 
author  appears  unable  to  suppress  his  indignation 
or  restrain  his  anathemas.  He  premises  that  by 
night  meetings,  he  means  "those  which  are  holden 
for  religious  purposes,"  for  of  these  he  says,  **  I 
consider  theatres  and  balls  as  less  injurio7is  to  the 
health  of  the  people  of  this  countr}^  than  religious 
night  meetings."  To  be  sure  he  assigns  as  a  rea- 
son the  great  comparative  frequency  of  the  latter, 
but  from  the  stress  laid  upon  their  religious  cha- 
racter, and  the  sneering  he  uses  in  relation  to  the 
variety  of  occasions  for  them,  it  is  plain,  that  if 
the  night  meetings  were  not  religio2is,  and  were 
ever  so  frequent,  they  might,  in  his  opinion,  be  in- 
nocent and  useful. 

While  he  admits  that  "  hundreds  of  females 
lose  their  lives  from  complaints  produced  by  at- 
tending theatres  and  balls,"  yet  he  "  wishes 
dancing  were  more  general  in  private  houses,"  so 
that  this  kind  of"  night  meetings"  would  be  salu- 
tary to  health,  however  frequent,  if  there  was  no 
religion  mingled  with  them,  a  proviso  which  we 
should  think,  not  very  difficult  to  secure.     And  he 


REVIEW  OF  jJR.  BRIGHAM.  73 

broadly  intimates,  that  "  theatre  going"  is  not  ob- 
jectionable, on  account  of  being  injurious  to  the 
body,  nor  would  it  be  injurious  to  the  mind  if  it 
were  not  for  the  indecent  and  vulgar  plays  brought 
upon  the  stage. 

The  dangerous  and  alarming  influence  of  reli- 
gious night  meetings  upon  health  is  dwelt  upon  at 
great  length,  and  the  clergy  are  pathetically  ap- 
pealed to  for  their  abandonment,  while  the  ladies 
are  warned  to  avoid  them  as  the}^  wish  to  escape 
''^nervous and  hysterical  diseases,  apoj)lexy, palsy,  con- 
swnption  and  death,''''  If  this  black  catalogue  does 
not  affright  the  fair  inhabitants  of  New  England, 
and  all  the  world,  from  religious  night  meetings, 
he  has  called  "  spirits  from  the  vasty  deep  "  in 
vain. 

The  zeal,  fervor,  and  eloquence  of  the  author  on 
this  subject,  would  be  absolutely  sublime  if  there 
were  more  than  "  one  step  "  from  thence  "  to  the 
ridiculous."  But  to  overlook,  as  he  does,  the  mul- 
tiplied and  multiplying  parties,  soirees,  quiltings, 
levees,  and  converzationes  of  the  ladies,  and  the  se- 
cular, political  and  festive  assemblages  of  the  other 
sex,  and  especially  those  which  are  far  more  fre- 
quent,and  continue  to  much  later  hours  of  the  night 
than  the  meetings  he  reprobates,  renders  his  sage 
criticisms  superlatively  ludicrous.  In  our  large 
cities,  multitudes  of  both  sexes,  it  is  well  known, 
are  in  the  theatres,  circuses,  concerts,  museums, 
or  other  public  places  of  amusement,  almost  every 


74  REVIEW  OF  DR.  ERIGHAM. 

evening  in  the  week,  and  most  of  these,  as  in  New 
York,  are  thronged  even  on  the  Sabbath.  Beside 
these  pubhc  places,  which  are  crowded  at  all  sea- 
sons of  the  year,  and  often  until  alter  midnight, 
there  are  musical,  and  dancing,  and  card  parties, 
publics,  and  balls,  which  are  protracted  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  night,  where  all  the  mis- 
chiefs to  health  which  the  author  deprecates  are 
ten-fold  greater  than  in  the  cases  complained  of; 
and  yet  the  author  sounds  no  note  of  danger,  ut- 
ters no  cry  of  alarm,  proclaims  no  voice  of  lamen- 
tation, but  is  so  exceedingly  explicit  as  to  say, 
*'By  night  meetings,  I  mean  those  which  are  hol- 
den  for  religious  purposes,"  and  upon  these  only  he 
places  his  ban  of  reprobation. 

The  truth  is,  the  night  meetings  held  in  the 
churches,  are  seldom  continued  longer  than  from 
one  to  two  hours,  and  are  crowded  only  on  some 
special  occasions,  which,  for  the  most  part,  are 
exceedingly  rare.  The  frequency  of  these  meet- 
ings is  therefore  greatly  overrated,  and  on  this,  as 
well  as  on  other  topics,  the  author  draws  largely 
upon  his  imagination  for  his  facts.  A  striking 
example  of  his  propensity  to  exaggeration  is  fur- 
nished in  the  opinion  he  expresses  that  "  one  half 
of  the  females  between  the  age  of  fifteen  and  fifty, 
throughout  the  whole  community,  attend  religious 
meetings  one  hundred  and  fifty  nights  in  a  year." 
The  reader  will  need  no  other  evidence  to  deter- 
mine what  share  of  credibihty  is  merited  by  his 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  75 

sweeping  assertions.  And  even  if  it  were  true,  the 
short  time  usually  occupied  in  such  meetings  could 
not  then  be  productive  of  the  mischiefs  so  terrifical- 
ly portrayed.  Indeed,  it  must  be  regarded  as  be- 
yond all  the  mysteries  of  the  universe,  that  so  large 
a  proportion  of  the  females  of  the  whole  communi- 
ty, as  he  describes,  should  be  perennially  subject- 
ed to  the  causes  which  ruin  their  health,  while  the 
instances  of  the  actual  production  of  disease  from 
this  source  should  be  so  "  few  and  far  between." 
For  we  hesitate  not  to  aver,  that  the  most  accurate 
statistics  will  prove  that  more  females  die  every 
year  of  hydrophohia  in  the  various  parts  of  this 
country,  than  of  diseases  produced  by  religiotis 
night  meetings.  We  regard  the  doleful  predic- 
tions and  lamentations  of  this  alarmist,  as  evincing 
profound  stupidity,  and  meriting  supreme  con- 
tempt. 

The  author,  next  in  order,  takes  up  camp  meet- 
ings, by  which,  he  says,  "  I  mean  meetings  of  nu- 
merous individuals  out  of  doors,  usually  in  the 
woods,  for  the  purpose  of  devoting  themselves  for 
several  da3^s  and  nights  to  iirayer,  and  to  attend- 
ance on  other  religious  exercises.''''  The  reader  will 
perceive,  that  in  thus  selecting  camp  meetings  as 
the  topic  of  his  animadversions,  he  condemns  only 
those  which  are  for  **  prayer  and  religious  exer- 
cises." This,  as  in  the  case  of  night  meetings,  is 
"  the  head  and  front  of  their  ofFendino;."  En- 
campments  for  hunting,  fishing,  and  pleasure  ex- 


70  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

cursions,  or  those  upon  the  race  course,  are  inno- 
Sbin  and  perhaps  salutaiy,  for  though  they  consist 
of  *'  numerous  individuals,  out  of  doors,  and  in 
the  woods,"  yet  they  are  not  for  the  unheaUhy  and 
mischievous  "  purpose  of  praj-er  and  rehgious 
exercises,"  and  are  therefore  harmless,  if  not  lau- 
dable. That  this  view  of  the  author's  meaning  is 
correct,  may  be  seen  from  the  fact,  that  *'  four 
day's  meetings,"  or  "protracted  meetings,"  which 
he  says  took  their  rise  from  camp  meetings,  are  de- 
clared to  be  equally  mischievous  to  the  health, 
though  these  resemble  each  other,  neither  in  being 
"  out  of  doors,"  nor  "in  the  woods,"  but  only  in 
their  being  held  '•''for inayer  and  religious  exercises^^^ 
which  seem  to  be  the  peculiar  horror  of  the  author, 
since  he  seldom  mentions  such  things,  but  he  asso- 
ciates them  with  "  hysterics,  apoplexy,  insanit}^ 
and  death!" 

In  tlie  accounts  he  selects  of  a  number  of  these 
meedngs,  and  the  correctness  of  which  he  does 
not  question,  we  find  no  mention  of  any  injurious 
effects  upon  the  health  of  the  multitudes  in  attend- 
ance, though  the  Doctor  says  he  has  "  profession- 
ally attended  several  persons  who  were  made  sick, 
they  themselves  were  convinced,  by  attending 
camp  meetings,  and  he  has  heard  of  many  others." 
These  facts  are  highly  probable,  but  it  would  be  a 
most  astounding  miracle  indeed,  if  camp  meet- 
ings should  prevent  any  person  who  attended 
them  from  being  sick,  among  the  thousands  usually 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  77 

assembled  on  such  occasions,  especially  if,  as  he 
says,  *'the  accommodations  in  the  tents,  especial- 
ly for  females,  are  bad."  Indeed,  the  description 
he  gives  of  these  meetings  will  convince  their 
warmest  admirer  that  they  must  be  injurious  to 
health,  were  it  not  for  the  inconsiderable  circum- 
stance, that  it  happens  to  be  untrue.  For  exam- 
ple, he  says,  ^^necessarily!  there  must  be  great 
exposure  to  cold  and  rain  P''  when,  as  it  is  noto- 
riously known,  hundreds  of  camp  meetings  are 
conducted  to  their  conclusion  throughout,  in  a  tem- 
perature varying  from  70  to  90^  of  Farenheit, 
without  a  particle  of  rain.  But  again,  he  says, 
^^necessarily  there  is  great  exposure  to  had  air  in 
crowded  tents  /"  This  again  is  a  very  rare  occur- 
rence, for  the  public  exercises  are  not  held  in  tents, 
but  in  the  open  air,  where  it  is  impossible  to  be 
crowded^  or  to  suffer  from  had  air,  unless  they  could 
fill  "all  outdoors,"  and  arrest  the  winds  of  hea- 
ven. But  he  next  enumerates,  among  necessary 
evils,  "  that  meals  will  be  irregular,  and  sleep 
disturbed,"  when  the  fact  in  the  case  is  well  known 
to  be,  that  the  "  regularity  of  the  meals"  is  often 
much  greater  than  people  are  accustomed  to  at 
home,  and  the  experience  of  those  who  attend 
these  meetings  will  prove,  that  so  far  from  having 
their  sleep  disturbed,  they  may,  if  they  please, 
«leep  longer  and  more  undisturbed  than  usual. 
This  results  from  the  almost  universal  regulation 
of  the  times  for  meals,  and  the  times  for  retiring, 
7* 


7S  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

by  the  blowing  of*  a  horn.  Tlie  rules  for  the  go- 
vernment of  camp  meetings,  and  which  are  strict- 
ly enforced,  absolutely  prevent  either  *'  irregular 
meals  or  disturbed  sleep,"  unless  it  be  under  some 
special  circumstances,  or  on  the  last  night  of  the 
meeting,  when  religious  services  are  sometimes 
continued  through  the  night. 

But  the  author  not  only  blunders  in  every  part 
of  his  theor}'-,  in  enumerating  the  cause  which 
produce  diseases  at  camp  meetings,  and  which,  as 
we  have  seen,  only  exist  in  his  morbific  imagina- 
tion ;  but  he  is  equally  in  fault,  when  in  the  exu- 
berance of  his  hberality  and  boundless  charity, 
he  conjectures  the  motives  of  those  who  hold 
them.  He  says,  that  "  no  other  reason  can  be 
given,  but  that  they  affect  the  mind  and  agitate 
the  body."  Here  then  we  are  told  by  high  au- 
thorit}^  that  the  motive  of  those  who  hold  camp 
meetings,  is  to  "  affect  the  mind  and  agitate  the 
body,"  and  as  they  are  over  and  over  attributed 
mainly  to  the  "  Christian  sect  called  Methodists," 
It  is  plainly  the  object  of  the  author  to  impute  this 
object  to  the  clergy  of  that  denomination.  How 
it  "  affects  the  mind,"  we  are  not  informed  in  this 
book,  except  that  "  the  sect  of  Methodists  has 
been  greatly  Increased  by  them,"  and  "  tliey  have 
added  greatly  to  the  number  of  the  Methodists," 
events,  which  however  calamitous  to  the  public 
health,  he  does  not  specify  whether  they  are  the 
result  of  "affectini?   the   mind  or   amtatinsr  the 

O  CO 


REVIEW  OF   DR.  BRIGHAM.  79 

body."  It  is  true,  he  affirms  that  "  he  witnessed 
a  most  deplorable  case  of  insanity,  which  arp^car- 
ed  to  be  caused  in  a  young  lady,  by  attending  a 
camp  meeting,"  which  appearance  is  highly  pro- 
bable, if  she  was  in  "  the  bad  air  of  crowdeil 
tents,"  or  "exposed  to  cold  and  rain,"  with  irre- 
gular meals  and  disturbed  sleep,"  for  these  would 
both  "  affect  the  mind  and  agitate  the  body."  To 
he  sure,  he  says,  these  are  "  necessarily"  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  camp  meetings,  and  he  pro- 
fesses to  speak  from  personal  observation.  It  is 
difficult  to  account  for  this  false  description  and 
caricature,  unless  we  suppose  that  some  time  or 
other  he  went  to  a  camp  meeting  in  a  storm  of  cold 
and  rain,  when  the  public  exercises  were  inter- 
rupted, and  the  people  crowded  in  the  tents  Xx> 
escape  the  temporary  inclemenc}^  of  the  weather. 
And  if,  under  such  circumstances,  some  were  not 
made  sick,  it  would  be  enough  to  invest  these 
meetings  with  sovereign  and  miraculous  endow- 
ments for  preventing  disease.  It  may  have  been 
in  a  contingency  of  this  kind,  that  the  3^oung  lady- 
he  speaks  of  suffered  in  her  health,  and  afterwards 
became  insane.  We  remember  an  analogous  in- 
stance of  most  deplorable  insanity,  which  a^rpcar- 
ed  to  have  been  caused  by  a  3'Oung  lady  being 
married,  and  "in  her  case,  there  was  no  herexli- 
tary  tendency,  nor  had  there  been  any  symptoms 
previously"  to  the  ceremony  of  her  nuptials.  And 
we  might,  with  as  much  propriety  and  v\'ith  equal 


80  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

success,  attempt  to  frighten  the  ladies  from  mar- 
riage, because  of  this  rare  instance  ;  as  to  intimi- 
date females  from  camp  meetings,  because  of  the 
case  he  names.  Indeed,  the  ceremony  oi marriage 
"affects  the  mind  and  agitates  the  body,"  in  most 
instances,  more  than  attending  camp  meetings, 
and  if  the  author  should  witness  a  case  like  the 
one  we  have  described,  according  to  his  logic, 
"  reason  would  condemn  it,  and  experience  show 
it  to  be  dangerous  both  to  mind  and  bod}^"  and 
we  might  expect  him  to  read  a  homily,  calling 
upon  the  "  intelligent  clergy,"  *'  influential  men, 
and  especially  females,'''*  to  examine  the  subject, 
and  "  agree  with  him,"  that  marriage  ''  ought  to 
he  abaTidoned,  or  gi'eatly  modified!'''' 

Protracted  meetings  constitute  the  next  theme 
of  the  author's  strictures ;  by  which  term  he  says, 
"  I  mean  religious  meetings  of  several  days  con- 
tinuance," sometimes  called  "  four  days  meet- 
ings." Thc}^  are  "  similar  in  all  respects,  cxcciH 
the  camimig  out,  to  the  camp  meetings  of  the  Me- 
thodists." He  says  they  are  held  "  for  the  imr- 
pose  of  producing  religious  excitement,"  and  some- 
times continue  forty  days.  He  gives  the  following 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  they  are  generally 
conducted,  viz:  pra3'er  meetings  or  inquiry  meet- 
ings early  in  the  morning  ;  then  preaching,  pray- 
ing and  singing  in  the  forenoon  ;  in  the  afternoon, 
another  sermon  with  prayers  and  singing  ;  in  the 
evening,  a  third  sermon,  praying,  singing,  exhor- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  81 

tation  and  examination  of  those  called  anxious  or 
awakened,'^'' 

That  these  meetings  are  injurious  to  the  health, 
is  alleged  by  the  author  for  the  following  reasons  : 
"  Assembling  men,  women  and  children  ;  talking 
to  them,  exciting  them,  and  making  them  anxious 
and  disturbed  for  days  and  weeks  on  the  subject 
of  religion  ;"  the  bodily  labor  and  fatigue  in  attend- 
ing church  early  in  the  morning,  most  of  the  day, 
and  late  in  the  evening,  days  and  weeks  in  succes- 
sion, exposed  to  variable  weather^  a  vitiated  atmos- 
pJiere,  sudden  and  great  changes  of  temperature, 
by  going  from  heated,  crowded  rooms  into  the  open 
air,''''  For  these  reasons,  as  well  as  the  injury 
suffered  by  the  clergy  by  preaching,  praying,  de- 
claiming and  exhorting  most  of  the  time,  he  objects 
te  these  meetings  on  account  of  their  mischievous 
influence  upon  health.  He  says  he  has  "  known 
several  cases  of  severe  disease,  which  he  believes 
originated  from  attending  protracted  meetings,  and 
several  cases  of  insanity  which  aj^jeared  to  have 
the  same  cause,"  and  he  refers  for  still  further  evi- 
dence to  "the  case  books  of  the  lunatic  estabhsh- 
ments  in  New  England." 

That  there  are  circumstances,  some  of  which 
are  named  by  the  author,  which  are  justly  repre- 
hensible in  protracted  meetings,  because  hurtful  to 
health,  is  readily  admitted.  Indeed  the  descrip- 
tions he  quotes  from  published  documents  of  the 
meetings  conducted  by  weak,  ignorant  and  fana- 


82  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

tical  men  in  several  towns  and  cities  of  the  north 
and  east,  if  they  are  true,  are  justly  censurable, 
not  only  for  their  influence  upon  health,  but  for 
their  deplorable  moral  influence.  But  that  religion 
should  be  censured  or  condemned,  or  even  pro- 
tracted meetings  made  the  theme  of  indiscrimi- 
nate denunciation,  because  of  the  folly,  indiscre- 
tion, and  extravagances  of  such  "  weak  brethren," 
is  profoundly  stupid,  and  indeed  criminally  repre- 
hensible in  a  professed  Christian. 

It  is  ridiculous  and  absurd,  as  well  as  cruel  in- 
justice to  charge  upon  the  whole  Christian  com- 
munity, and  upon  religion  itself,  the  wild  and  in- 
coherent ravings  of  fanatics  or  madmen,  or  hold 
the  churches  responsible  for  the  effects  such  men 
produce  by  their  phrenzy.  The  eflfects  of  such 
meetings  as  are  here  described,  are  evil,  and  only 
evil  ph3^sica]ly,  mentally  and  morally,  nor  do  in- 
telligent Christians  approve,  tolerate,  or  excuse 
the  improprieties  complained  of.  And  had  the 
author  restricted  his  censures  to  the  agents  and 
abettors  of  these  enormities  he  might  have  claimed 
respect  for  his  faithfulness  and  candor. 

No  one,  however,  can  read  this  book  and  not 
distinctly  perceive  that  the  reprobation  of  the 
author  extends  to  protracted  meetings  indiscrimi- 
nately, not  because  of  the  exceptionable  features 
above  mentioned,  but  as  in  the  case  of  night  and 
camp  meetings,  because  they  are  "  held  for  reli- 
gious purposes."      Indeed  the  zeal  exhibited  in 


IIEVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  S3 

his  attempt  to  convict  religion  itself  of  causing  dis- 
ease and  death,  has  led  him  to  indiscretions  and 
perversions  of  fact  of  which  he  ought  to  be  asham- 
ed. In  his  classification  of  reasons  for  the  un- 
healthiness  of  these  various  meetings,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  author  enumerates  a  number  of  causes 
of  disease  which  are  demonstrably  more  pal- 
pable and  vastly  more  potent  than  "  mental," 
or  even  "  religious  excitement."  Hence  he  dwells 
upon  the  "  bodily  labor  and  fatigue  "  imposed,  the 
"  exposure  to  variable  weather,  a  vitiated  atmosphere^ 
and  sudden  and  great  changes  of  temperature  by 
going  from  heated  croivded  rooms  into  the  open  airJ^'' 
And  he  finds  himself  under  the  necessity  of  array- 
ing all  these  physical  causes  of  disease,  which  are 
mere  contingencies,  in  the  catalogue  of  morbid 
agencies,  which  render  such  meetings  unhealthy, 
because  he  discovers  that  **  reliofious  excitement" 
is  wholly  insufficient  for  his  purpose.  Nobody 
doubts  that  the  circumstances  he  names  wee  physi- 
cal causes  of  disease  of  themselves ;  but  he  su- 
peradds all  these  to  the  ''  mental  and  religious 
excitement"  with  the  view  of  rendering  it  proba- 
ble that  such  meetings  are  unhealthy.  Yet  they 
are  wholly  irrelevant,  because  neither  "  religion" 
nor  *' religious  excitement"  can  be  justly  im- 
plicated in  the  causation  of  maladies,  which  are 
avowedly  produced  by  physical  agents,  such  as 
those  he  describes. 

A  number  of  accounts  of  protracted  meetings 


S4  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

axe  here  inlroduced  from  various  religious  jour- 
nals, and  the  use  made  of  them  is  truly  extraor- 
dinary. 

For  illustration  we  refer  the  reader  to  the  sketch 
of  the  life  and  death  of  a  little  girl,  extracted  from 
the  "  Sunday  School  Record,"  and  found  under 
the  head  of  Protracted  Meetings,  on  page  178  of 
this  book.  The  author  attempts  to  render  it  pro- 
bable that  the  child's  death  was  caused  or  accel- 
ierated  by  rcligmis  excitement,  which,  however 
ix)ssiblc  he  may  think  it  in  other  cases,  in  the  in- 
stance here  named,  has  not  the  least  semblance  of 
evidence.  The  facts  are,  that  a  child  of  eleven 
or  twelve  3'ears  old,  the  daughter  of  a  minister, 
attended  a  protracted  meeting,  at  which  her  father 
officiated,  became  interested  in  religious  things  in 
which  she  had  been  early  initiated  at  home  and  in 
the  Sabbath  school,  and  after  a  short  season  of 
anxiety  of  mind,  was  hopefully  converted.  A  ^^feu- 
weeks  aftcr^^^  this  child  became  sick,  and  died  of  a 
'''•fever  of  the  most  malignant  kind,"  during  which 
her  reason  was  impaired,  as  is  usual  in  such  fevers, 
for  a  short  time  ;  but  four  days  before  her  death  she 
was  rational  and  intelligent,  and  conversed  with 
her  parents  and  friends  in  a  manner  which  demon- 
straed  the  possession  of  her  reason,  and  the  experi- 
ence of  genuine  evangelical  religion.  The  narra- 
tive is  drawn  up  without  any  savor  of  enthusiasm 
or  extravagance,  and  will  be  found  pathetic  and 
interesting. 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  85 

On  this  case  the  author  founds  a  "warning  to 
parents,"  against  such  reprehensible  conduct  as 
cherishing  rehgious  exercises  in  their  children, 
and  after  describing  the  habits  of  devotion  and 
piety  of  this  little  girl  as  highly  censurable,  he 
adds,  "  then  came  delirium,  disease  and  death !" 
and  proceeds  to  attribute  the  child's  death  to  at- 
tending religious  protracted  meetings  as  its  cause. 
But,  unfortunately  for  his  professional  character 
and  candor,  the  narrative  states,  that  the  disease 
did  not  appear  "  for  weeks  after"  these  meetings, 
and  moreover,  the  disease  is  represented  to  have 
been  a  "fever  of  the  most  malignant  kind,"  in 
which  all  the  world  knows  delirium  would  have 
occurred,  if  she  had  never  seen  a  "  protracted 
meeting,"  and  the  Doctor  surely  need  not  be  in- 
formed, that  malignant  fever  must  have  some  other 
source  than  "  attending  sunrise  prayer  meetings," 
which  he  names  as  the  most  horrible  proximate 
cause  of  her  malady. 

Ringing  of  bells  is  the  subject  with  which  this 
long  chapter  concludes,  and  is  another  evidence 
of  the  "  influence  o^  religion  upon  the  health  and 
physical  welfare  of  mankind."  He  says,  people 
in  health,  and  himself  included,  are  "  greatly  a%- 
iwyed  by  the  noise  of  the  bells  on  the  Lord's  day, 
the  sick  are  very  much  injured,  and  he  has  no 
doubt  that  in  some  instances  it  has  proved  fatal." 
He  argues  that  the  "church-going  bell"  should 
be  silenced  henceforth,  and  suggests  that  the  inha- 
8 


86  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

bitants  may  be  summoned  to  church,  by  criers 
from  the  "  galleries  of  the  minarets  attached  to 
the  mosques,"  as  the  Mahometans  do,  or  by  the 
blowing  of  a  horn,  the  heating  of  a  drum,  or  by  hoist- 
ing a  flag.     This  last  method  lie  greatly  prefers, 
and  should  be  substituted  for  the  ringing  of  bells, 
since  it  makes  no  kind  of  noise.    One  can  scarcely 
preserve  his  gravity,  in  perusing  such  sublimated 
nonsense.     It  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  a 
lady  of  New  England  has  yielded  to  the  tempta- 
tion of  castigating  the  author  by  a  piece  of  satire, 
which  deserves  a  more  permanent  place  than  the 
columns  of  the  "  Connecticut  Courant."     In  the 
notice   she   takes  of  this   homily   of  the  author 
against  the  church  bells,  which  so  terribly  disturb 
his  equanimity,  she  points  to  an  analogous  evil, 
arising  from  the  ringing  of  physicians'  night-bells, 
w^here  the  most  serious  and  alarming  mischiefs  re- 
sult in  consequence  of  the  neighbors  being  roused 
from  their  slumbers,  and  especially  mischievous 
to  the  sick.     She  imitates  the  author  in  proposing 
a  remedy  for  this  dangerous  method  of  summon- 
ing the  doctors  on  emergent  occasions,   and  mo- 
destly suggests  Miss  Elizabeth  Carter's  plan,  by 
a  lono-  string  beinsf  tied  to  the  foot  of  the  learned 
gentleman  of  the  faculty,  and  reaching  to  the  front 
door.     In  that  case  she  thinks  that  if  deep  sleep, 
or  a  cold  night,  should  not  be  overcome  by  huma- 
nity and  the  prospective  fee,  and  a  slight  twitch 
from  the  shivering  messenger  should  not  rouse, 
that  a  stout  tug  might  soon  bring  the  son  of  Escu- 


REVIEW  OF  Dll.  BRiaHAM.  87 

lapius  to  a  sense  of  his  duty.  And  as  she  is  sure 
**  all  intelligent  physicians"  and  influential  men 
will  view  this  subject  as  she  does,  she  confidently 
trusts  her  hints  may  remove  the  dreadful  mischiefs 
which  ringing  of  bells,  in  such  cases,  never  fail 
to  induce.  The  puerility  of  the  author  on  this  sub- 
ject merits  no  other  reply  than  such  an  exposure 
of  his  folly  to  merited  ridicule. 

The  sixth  chapter  is  devoted  to  "  modern  revi- 
vals of  religion,  and  what  are  called  the  special 
effects  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  a  comparison  of 
these  effects  with  the  phenomena  of  disease,  ani- 
mal mas^netism  and  excitements  of  the  nervous 
system."  From  the  evidence  already  before  the 
reader,  he  may  be  prepared  to  estimate  the  fitness 
of  the  author's  mind  and  habits  to  discuss  a  sub- 
ject of  tliis  nature.  He  declares,  that  it  is  "  emi- 
nently philosophical,"  and  professes  to  estimate 
its  "  gravity  and  importance."  and  promises  to 
treat  it  with  "candor  and  solemnity,"  with  the 
*'  desire  predominating  over  all  others,  that  the 
truth  may  be  elicited." 

After  such  an  exordium  to  this  "  eminently  phi- 
losophical" department  of  his  subject,  and  such 
an  assurance  of  candor  in  its  examination,  we  can 
scarcely  be  prepared,  even  after  all  we  have  seen 
of  this  erratic  writer,  for  such  a  tissue  of  unfound- 
ed distortion  of  facts,  impeachment  of  motives  and 
censorious  denunciation  of  character,  as  are  here 
exhibited.      The   doctrine  of   Divine   influence, 


8S  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

which  is  as  eminently  scriptural  as  it  is  philoso- 
phical, is  grossly  misrepresented,  and  a  "  state- 
ment of  doctrinal  views,"  in  relation  to  the  gift 
and  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  ascribed  to 
the  "  advocates  of  revivals  of  religion,"  which 
no  sect  of  evangelical  Christians  in  the  land  ever 
held  or  taught.  Nay  more,  if  the  sentiments  at- 
tributed by  the  author  to  "  innumerable  clergy- 
men," were  avowed  through  the  pulpit  or  the 
press,  by  any  man,  however  exalted  in  character 
or  popularity,  he  would  be  forthwith  excommuni- 
cated from  any  Christian  church  in  the  country, 
for  "  damnable  heresy."  And  we  hesitate  not  to 
affirm,  that  no  man  could  be  found,  in  the  posses- 
sion of  his  reason,  who  would  testify  that  he  ever 
before  saw  such  doctrines  in  jDrint,  or  heard  them 
uttered  by  any  professed  Christian  or  minister  of 
the  gospel.  Some  of  them  are  too  shocking  for 
repetition,  and  too  revolting  to  have  found  a  place 
m  the  heart  of  any  other  than  the  author.  The 
monstrous  extravagancies  of  Irving,  the  shocking 
m}' sticism  of  the  Mormons,  the  profane  impostures 
of  Matthias  are  pardonable,  na}^  innocent,  in  com- 
parison with  the  "  blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
Ghost,""  of  which  the  author  accuses  *'  innumera- 
ble clergymen,"  and  indeed  all  who  advocate 
"  revivals  of  religion." 

Perhaps  no  where  in  this  extraordinary  volume 
does  he  exhibit  more  clearly  the  wretched  perver- 
sion of  his  mind,  than  in  the  self-complacency  with 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  89 

which  he  denounces  his  literary,  philosophical  and 
theological  philippics  against  the  great  and  good, 
the  illustrious  Jonathan  Edwards  !  Of  the  works  ot 
President  Edwards,  which  he  says  he  has  care- 
fully examined,  the  author  authoritatively  pro- 
nounces, that  they  are  "  illogical,  inconclusive,  and 
evidence  but  little  research  or  reJlectio?i ;  and  that 
they  are  contradictory  in  important  points,  and 
abound  with  careless  and  erroneous  statements." 
Such  is  the  grave  criticism,  pronounced  with  ama- 
zing composure,  in  relation  to  the  works  of  a  man, 
whose  enlightened  piety,  learning,  and  acquaint- 
ance with  the  philosophy  of  mind,  has  challenged 
the  admiration  of  the  wise  and  good  in  both  he- 
mispheres, and  whose  name  is  imperishably  iden- 
tified with  the  history  of  his  country,  as  one  of  the 
brightest  luminaries  in  the  department  of  sancti- 
fied learning.  That  the  author  should  thus  write 
in  New  England,  where  the  name  and  reputation 
of  Edwards  are  revered  and  venerated,  betrays  a 
recklessness  of  character  in  which  he  will  scarcely 
find  a  rival. 

It  is  true,  that  the  names  of  Sprague  and  Finney 
are  associated  with  Edwards  in  his  wholesale  con- 
demnation, but  these  ordinary  men  will  find  in  the 
fact  of  being  connected  with  that  intellectual  giant, 
a  consoling  recompense  for  all  the  condemnation, 
which,  with  him,  they  are  permitted  to  share. 
Nor  can  the  author  gain  any  share  of  credence, 
even  for  just  and  merited  criticism  upon  the  works 


90  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

of  Other  writers,  when  he  inscribes  his  own  folly, 
by  branding  such  a  man  as  Jonathan  Edwards 
with  "  justif^dng  the  most  wild  fanaticism  the 
world  has  ever  known." 

The  reason  why  President  Edwards  is  thus 
singled  out  for  the  author's  reprobation,  is  ma- 
nifest in  the  extracts  made  from  his  writings, 
which  prove  that  he  believed  in  "  revivals  of  re- 
ligion," and  attributed  them  to  the  "  agency  of  the 
Hoi}'  Spirit."  For  this  reason  alone,  he  and  We&- 
le}^  and  Whitfield,  with  others  among  the  eloquent 
and  learned  divines  of  the  last  century  are  jointly 
classed  with  Finnej^,  Burchard,  and  other  modern 
"  revivalists,"  and  an  attempt  is  even  made  by 
garbled  and  distorted  extracts  from  the  writings 
of  those  holy  men  of  the  last  century,  to  identify 
them  with  Irving,  Pierson  and  Matthias.  This,  as 
the  author  thinks,  can  be  logically  justified,  for  as 
the  former  believed  in  the  "  special  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit  of  God"  in  revivals,  they  must,  to  be 
consistent,  also  believe  in  the  effects  ascribed  to 
that  Spirit  in  "  convulsions^  fallings ,  outcries,  dreams, 
visions,  gift  of  tongues,  qnrit  of  j)ro2)hcc7j,^^  and  aU 
that  the  most  loild  fanatics  claim  and  exhibit.  By 
such  logic  does  the  author  attempt  to  make  out  his 
case  after  all  his  professions  of  candor  and  solem- 
nity, and  a  predominant  desire  to  "elicit  the 
truth." 

Possibly,  however,  he  has  fallen  into  these  mul- 
tiplied mistakes,  and  misapprehensions,  solely  be- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  91 

cause  of  his  manifest  ignorance  on  the  subject  up- 
on which  he  writes,  and  the  reader  may  make  the 
effort  to  believe  that  his  head  rather  than  his  heart 
is  in  fault.  Charity  will  suggest  this  thought,  if, 
as  we  proceed,  truth  and  justice  do  not  constrain 
its  abandonment. 

In  this  long  chapter  of  more  than  eighty  pages, 
and  constituting  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  book, 
there  are  so  many  topics  introduced,  that  it  will 
be  necessary  to  detain  the  reader  here  by  a  few 
preliminary  suggestions.  In  the  description  here 
given  of  the  nature  of  what  is  called  "  a  revival  of 
religion,"  the  author  grossly  misrepresents  the  cir- 
cumstances ordinarily  attending  them,  and  selects 
to  suit  his  purpose,  solitary  instances  occurring  in 
revivals,  which  are  exceptions  to  the  general  rule, 
and  some  of  them  exceedingly  objectionable  in  the 
estimation  of  sober  Christians.  He  makes  no 
mention  of  the  comparative  darkness  and  igno- 
rance of  the  times  in  which  some  of  the  events 
occurred,  nor  of  the  intellectual  imbecility  of  the 
individuals  v\^ho  were  the  subjects  of  some  of  the 
extravagancies  named,  concessions  which  candor 
and  truth  required  him  to  make. 

But  his  account  of  thedoctrines  held  and  taught 
in  common  by  Edwards,  Wesley,  Whitfield, 
Sprague,  and  others,  is  still  more  uncandid  and 
exceptionable.  Their  doctrine  in  relation  to  revi^ 
vals,  are  strictly  those  of  the  Bible,  while  the  sen" 
timents  ascribed  to  them  by  the  author  are  both 


92  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

unscriptural  and  absurd.  The  whole  representa- 
tion here  given  of  the  "  doctrine  of  the  special  in- 
fluence of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  is  essentially  erro- 
neous, and  in  relation  to  those  excellent  men 
whose  writings  were  before  him,  his  allegations 
are  absolutely  calumnious  and  libellous.  They 
never  held  or  taught  the  sentiments  ascribed  to 
them,  nor  is  there  any  sect  of  evangelical  Chris- 
tians who  would  not  utterly  repudiate  them,  either 
in  this  or  any  other  country.  This  entire  state- 
ment of  the  views  of  those  who  advocate  revivals 
of  religion,  is  a  vile  caricature,  and  if  the  author 
believes  it  himself,  he  will  find  few  readers  equal- 
ly credulous.  Indeed,  if  with  the  books  before 
him  from  which  his  detached  and  dislocated  ex- 
tracts are  taken,  he  could  persuade  himself  that 
Christian  men  and  ministers  could  subscribe  to 
such  a  creed  as  he  has  attributed  to  them,  then  is 
he  entided  to  our  commisseration,  rather  than  our 
censures,  since  it  is  obviously  his  misfortune  rather 
than  his  fault. 

As  the  author  says  on  page  196,  that  he  does 
not  question  the  special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit as  mentioned  in  Scripture,  as  in  Paul's  conver- 
sion, in  the  day  of  pentecost  and  other  places  in 
the  New  Testament,  we  shall  now  give  a  brief 
summary  of  the  views  of  those  who,  with  Ed- 
wards, Wesley,  and  others,  believe  in  revivals  of 
religion,  and  the  reader  will  perceive  thai  they 
bear  no  analogy  to  those  attributed  to  them  by  the 
author. 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  93 

They  believe  that "  a  manifestation  of  the  Spirit 
is  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal,"  that  Christ 
is  the  *'  true  light  which  lighteth  every  man  that 
Cometh  into  the  world,"  from  which  Scriptures 
they  learn  that  by  the  atonement  of  Christ,  who 
"by  the  grace  of  God  tasted  death  for  every 
man,"  salvation  from  sin  and  its  consequences,  is 
attainable  on  condition  of  repentance  toward  God, 
and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  They  be- 
lieve that  it  is  by  the  Spirit  of  God  that  men  are 
convinced  of  sin,  and  that  under  His  influence, 
which  is  promised  to  all  who  ask  for  it,  any  sinner 
has  all  necessary  ability  to  obtain  salvation.  They 
believe  that  "  except  a  man  be  born  of  the  Spirit 
he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  and 
that  "  except  we  repent  we  shall  all  likewise  per- 
ish." They  believe  that  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  is  Divinely  appointed  as  the  great  instru- 
ment to  "  turn  men  from  darkness  to  light,"  and 
that  the  Holy  Spirit,  given  in  answer  to  prayer, 
renders  the  Gospel  efficient  and  successful  in  the 
conversion  of  sinners.  And  as  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
universal  and  all  sufficient  savior  of  sinners,  so 
also  they  believe  He  is  the  onhj  Savior,  and  that  if 
men  believe  not  in  him,  they  will  "  die  in  their 
sins,"  and  that  the  "  wicked  will  be  turned  into 
Hell,  with  all  the  nations  that  forget  God." 

This  is  a  concise  statement  in  Scripture  lan- 
guage of  the  sentiments  of  those  whom  the  author 
has  so  grievously  caricatured,  and  entertaining 


94  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

these  opinions,  they  pray  for  the  "gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,"  which  is  promised  to  all  them  that  ask, 
and  by  a  "revival  of  religion,"  they  mean  only 
ttiat  this  Spirit  and  His  influences  are  given  for  the 
awakening  or  conviction  of  sinners,  for  the  con- 
version of  penitents,  and  for  the  sanctification  of 
believers.  The  progress  of  this  "  work  of  God,  " 
is  what  they  call  a  revival,  when  many  prove 
these  Scriptures  that  "  God  has  sent  forth  the  Spi- 
rit of  His  Son  into  their  hearts ;"  the  "  Spirit  of  God 
witnesses  with  their  spirits  that  they  are  the  chil- 
dren of  God ;"  His  "  love  is  shed  abroad  in  their 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  given  unto  them."  The 
evidences  by  which  the  revival  is  known  to  be  by 
the  "  special  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost "  are 
these ;  "  If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  crea- 
ture, old  things  are  passed  away  and  all  things 
are  become  new."  "If  any  man  have  not  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  His."  "  He  that 
believeth  on  the  Son  of  God,  hath  the  witness  in 
himself."  "  He  that  is  born  of  God  doth  not  com- 
mit sin."  "  He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil." 
"  As  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they 
are  the  children  of  God." 

The  reader  cannot  fail  to  discover  that  in  this 
brief  narrative  of  the  Scriptural  doctrines  of  those 
who,  with  "  Edwards  and  Wesley,"  believe  in 
"  revivals  of  religion  "  as  resulting  from  the  "  spe- 
cial influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  there  is  not  the 
least  shadow  of  authority  for  the  vile  caricature 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  95 

drawn  by  the  author,  whose  malignity,  imputes 
to  Christian  men  and  ministers  "views,"  which 
he  professes  to  have  "  selected  from  their  wri- 
tings," and  in  which  he  affirms  that "  those  who  fa^ 
vor  revivals  generally  concur,"  which,  we  shudder 
to  repeat  it,  plainly  imply  the  most  impious  "  blas- 
phemy against  the  Holy  Ghost."  That  the  reader 
may  be  in  possession  of  the  horrible  and  revolting 
opinions,  which  are  falsely  imputed  to  "  innu- 
merable clergymen,"  and  to  "  all  who  favor  revi- 
vals," we  present  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  au- 
thor's language,  the  following  summary  of  this  fic- 
titious creed,  condensed  from  various  parts  of  the 
chapter,  so  that  it  may  be  seen  at  one  view  in  all 
its  hideous  deformity. 

He  charges  all  such  with  believing  that  "  a  very 
small  number  of  Protestants  are  affected  by  the 
special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  none  other 
can  be  saved,  and  that  no  human  being  of  the  seven 
hundred  millions  of  the  human  race  can  escape 
indescribable  torments  in  hell  forever,  unless  this 
special  influence  is  imparted  !  That  the  Omnipo- 
tent Being  created  for  his  own  good  pleasure  all 
these  suffering  mortals,  and  by  withholding  this 
influence  of  the  Holy  vSpiritfrom  them,  innumera- 
ble millions  of  beings  created  in  the  image  of  God 
himself,  are  doomed  to  unutterable  misery  !  That 
this  Divine  influence,  absolutely  essential  for 
man's  salvation,  is  only  imparted  occasionally  to 
a  few  individuals  of  one  sect,  or  religious  congre- 
gation, at  a  time,  and  even  these  revivals  of  reli" 


96  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRTGIIAM. 

gion  are  not  always  genuine,  though  caused  by 
the  special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit !    That  this 
influence  has  been  withheld  from  the  myriads  of 
human  beings  who  have  lived,  and  is  now  impart- 
ed only  to  a  few  of  the  immense  number  of  man- 
kind on  the  globe,  while  without  it  no  human  be- 
ing can  escape  indescribable  torments  in  hell  for- 
ever!"  and  besides  all  this  compound  of  inconsis- 
tency and  profanity,  and  much  more  too  scanda- 
lous to  detail,  he  accuses  these  Christian  men  and 
ministers  with  relying  on  certain  ^^ feelings,''''  as  the 
conclusive  evidence  of  the  "  presence  and  agency 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,"   and  with  believing   that 
"  outcries,  fallings,  convulsions"  and  all  the  "  out- 
ward signs"  spoken  of  in  revivals,  together  with 
*'  every  species  of  wild  fanaticism,"  are  invaria- 
bly die  effect  of  divine  influence.     To  all  such 
allegations  against  religion,  its  doctrines,  its  minis- 
ters, and   professors,  we  here  enter  our  solemn 
protest  in  the  face  of  heaven  and  eartli,  and  leave 
their  fabricator  w^ith  the   brand  of  a  calumniator, 
burned  into  him,  by  his  own  hardihood  and  folly. 
Having  thus  disposed  of  the  general  slanders  of 
the  author,  we  proceed  to  a  further  exposure  of 
the  misrepresentations  and  falsehoods  with  which 
this  book  abounds.     In  the  doctrinal  exhibit  we 
have  given  of  the  sentiments  of  the  advocates  of 
revivals,  it  will  be  perceived  that  there  is  nothing 
of  "gifts  of  tongues  and  spirit  of  prophecy,"  nor 
do  we  find  any  authority  for  charging  upon  those 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  97 

who  hold  these  Bible  doctrines,  either  "  convul- 
sions, fallings,  outcries,  dreams,  visions,"  and  the 
like,  nor  can  any  of  the  *'  wild  fanaticism,"  de- 
scribed as  their' s,  find  any  show  of  justification 
from  the  sentiments  we  have  attributed  to  those 
Christians  who  believe  in  the  special  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  in  revivals.  Nevertheless, 
we  may  readily  admit,  that  a  genuine  revival  is 
often  accompanied  with  external  features,  which, 
though  they  may  appear  to  be  fanatical  to  such 
lookers  on  as  the  author,  are  not  by  any  means  to 
be  justly  so  considered.  For  instance,  the  author 
maintains  that  "  solemn  and  anxious  feelings," 
"  sorrow  for  sin,"  "  trembling,"  "  v/eeping,"  and 
"feeling  differently  from  what  they  ever  did  be- 
fore," "  turning  pale,"  and  "  audible  sobbing  and 
sighing,"  are  all  evidences  of  "  wild  fanaticism  ;" 
and  that  those  who  believe  in  any  of  these  effects 
being  produced  by  the  spirit  of  God,  cannot  con- 
sistently deny  any  measure  of  extravagance  and 
folly  which  may  be  ascribed  to  the  same  agency. 
If  this  be  not  a  specimen  of  *'  wild  fanaticism"  in 
the  author,  we  know  not  where  it  is  to  be  found. 

Let  us  try  these  extravagancies,  as  they  are 
called,  by  the  teachings  of  inspiration,  and  by  the 
dictates  of  reason  and  common  sense.  Were 
there  no  "  solemn  and  anxious  feelings"  when, 
under  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles,  the  multitude 
inquired — "  men  and  brethren  what  shall  we  do?" 
Was  there  no  "  sorrow  for  sin,  trembling,  weep- 


98  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

ing,"  &c.,  when  Peter  "  went  out  and  wept  bitter- 
ly/' or  when  *'Mary  washed  the  Master's  feet 
with  her  tears,  and  wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of 
her  head  ?"  And  if  it  be  not  unscriptural,  is  it 
unreasonable  that  men  should,  under  the  influence 
of  enlightened  views  impressed  upon  their  con- 
sciences, feel  and  act  thus  ?  Supposing  it  to  be 
true,  that  the  spirit  of  God  convinces  a  sinner  of 
his  guilt  and  danger,  as  taught  in  the  word  of 
God,  is  it  wild  fanaticism  that  he  should  tremble, 
and  weep,  and  pray,  even  audibly,  for  that  mercy 
and  forgiveness  which  he  needs  ?  And  when, 
as  often  occurs  in  revivals,  careless,  hardened,  and 
impious  sinners,  are  suddenly  brought  to  discover 
the  enormity  of  their  wickedness,  is  it  to  be  con- 
demned as  extravagance  that  such  feelings  as  re- 
morse of  conscience  occasions,  should  "  affect  the 
mind  and  agitate  the  body?"  And  yet  this  and 
the  like,  is  what  the  author  calls  "  religious  excite- 
ment," which  is  to  be  condemned  as  "  wild  fanati- 
cism," and  calculated  to  produce  disease  and 
death. 

That  instances  of  inexcusable  extravagance, 
and  even  consummate  folly,  are  sometimes  exhi- 
bited in  connexion  with  "  revivals  of  religion,"  is 
not  denied,  indeed  the  author  has  industriously, 
and  with  a  zeal  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  collected 
examples  of  this  character,  truly  humiliating  to 
our  species,  and  calculated  to  disparage  revivals, 
and  disgrace  those  who  participated  in  such  folly. 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  99 

These,  however,  so  far  from  showing  the  "  influ- 
ence of  religion,"  as  he  designs  they  shall,  are 
only  the  excrescences  which  deform  and  disfigure 
revivals,  and  there  may  be,  and  often  is,  no  reli- 
gion in  them.  He  may  attribute  them  to  sympathy, 
to  a7iimal  magnetism,  or  to  hypocrisy  itself.  We  will 
give  him  all  such  examples  as  he  can  find  through- 
out Christendom,  to  glut  the  buzzard  appetite  of 
those  who  can  feast  on  the  solitary  carcasses  which 
here  and  there  defile  the  vast  field  of  moral 
beauty  and  loveliness,  which  true  "  revivals  of 
religion"  have  spread  out,  in  the  face  of  heaven 
and  earth,  and  the  fruits  of  which  are  seen  in  the 
radical  reformation  of  the  profligate  and  abandon- 
ed, living  epistles,  *'  not  written  with  ink  on  tables 
of  stone,  but  on  fleshly  tables  of  the  heart,  by  the 
finger  of  the  living  God." 

The  striking  infatuation  of  the  author's  mind, 
maybe  seen  in  the  attempt  he  makes  to  disparage 
the  intellectual  character  of  the  holy  men  of  whom 
he  speaks,  as  for  example,  he  accuses  President 
Edwards  of  *'  a  strong  tendency  to  fanaticism  in 
early  life  ;"  and  against  John  Wesley  he  brings 
the  same  formidable  objection,  "He  early  exhi- 
bited a  tendency  to  fanaticism,''^  and  he  classes 
these  gifted  and  evangelical  men,  together  with 
Whitfield,  among  "  religious  enthusiasts  and  fana- 
tics," and  talks  of  their  '^  early  enthusiasm  having 
increased  to  extravagant  fanaticism !"  Who  that  is 
acquainted  with  the  history  of  these  men  of  God, 


lUO  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

can  fail  to  be  amazed  at  the  temerity  and  depra- 
vit}^  which  is  impUcd  in  such  injustice  and  censo- 
liousness. 

Having  alluded  to  the  spirit  of  unkindness  and 
unfairness  with  which  Edwards  is  treated  by  the 
author,  we  are  here  called  to  notice  a  similar 
want  of  candor  towards  Mr.  Wesley.  From  the 
works  of  that  great  and  good  man,  a  narrative  of 
a  "revival  of  religion"  is  selected,  which,  because 
it  was  extraordinary  in  many  of  its  features,  is  de- 
tailed by  Wesley  with  great  minuteness.  The 
reader,  who  is  not  acquainted  with  the  histor}^  of 
the  labors  of  that  distinguished  and  successful 
minister,  might  conclude,  from  this  detached  quo- 
tation, that  the  "outcries,  falling,"  &c.,  here  de- 
scribed, were  common  and  frequent  attendant  cir- 
cumstances upon  his  preaching,  and  that  Mr.  W. 
regarded  these  as  essential  to  a  revival.  Indeed,  all 
the  accounts  given  in  this  book,  are  such  as  de- 
scribed irregularities,  unusual  in  their  occurrence, 
and  are  by  no  means  regarded  by  the  narrators  as 
necessary,  or  even  characteristic  of  revivals. 
Such,  however,  is  the  impression  this  book  is 
designed  to  make,  for  no  instance  of  the  "  spe- 
cial influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit"  is  here  referred 
to,  except  onty  such  as  can  be  made  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  identif^^ing  revivals  with  "  extrava- 
gance" and  wild  "  fanatacism."  This  is  especi- 
ally the  case  in  the  allusions  made  to  Mr.  Wesley 
and  the  Methodists,  when,  if  "to  elicit  truth" 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  101 

had  indeed  been  the  author's  desire,  he  would 
have  been  constrained  to  state  the  fact,  which 
must  have  been  known  to  him,  that  Mr.  W.  was 
in  the  midst  of  "  revivals"  for  more  than  half  a 
century,  preaching  the  gospel  in  various  parts  of 
the  United  Kingdom,  and  in  other  countries,  pro- 
claiming the  doctrine  of  the  "  special  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  and  with  a  success  in  the 
conversion  and  reformation  of  tens  of  thousands, 
scarcely  equalled  since  the  days  of  the  apostles. 
And  yet  the  extravagances  complained  of  were 
exceedingly  rare,  multitudes  who  were  converted 
under  his  ministry,  giving  no  examples  of  wild 
fanaticism.  Occasionally,  however,  instances  did 
occur,  in  which  circumstances  such  as  those  de- 
scribed took  place  under  his  ministry,  and  that  of 
his  fellow-laborers,  but  no  one  can  read  his  jour- 
nals, as  the  author  professes  to  have  done,  without 
perceiving  that  Mr.  W.  often  records  them  as  a 
faithful  historian,  not  with  a  view  of  approving 
them,  but  accompanying  the  narrative  with  his 
doubts  on  some  occasions,  and  in  others  attribut- 
ing them  to  sympathy,  animal  feeling,  fanaticism, 
and  even  hypocrisy.  Indeed,  he  not  unfrequent- 
ly  warned  the  people  against  them,  attributing 
certain  examples  he  names,  to  the  influence  of 
Satan,  who  designed  to  bring  into  disrepute  the 
genuine  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the  hearts 
of  men. 

We  inquire,  then,  is  it  fair,  or  candid,  or  ho- 
9* 


102  REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

nest,  to  select  these  incidental  circumstances, 
which  constitute  no  part  of  a  "revival,"  and 
which,  in  some  instances,  were  attributed  to  the 
devil,  by  Wesley,  and  the  other  ministers  who  re- 
cord them,  and  insist  that  these  are  true  descrip- 
tions of  the  "  influence  of  religion,"  examples  of 
the  *'  effects  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  The  reader 
cannot  fail  to  perceive,  that  by  such  a  course  the 
author  has  forfeited  all  claim  either  to  confidence 
or  respect.  For  not  only  Edwards  and  Wesle}- 
are  thus  foully  misrepresented  to  suit  his  unhal" 
lowed  purpose,  but  Whitfield,  Rev.  Dr.  Alexan- 
der, Dr.  Humphreys,  Dr.  Sprague,  Mr.  Finney, 
and  others,  receive  no  better  justice  at  his  hands. 
Nor  would  the  reader  suppose,  from  aught  thai 
this  book  contains,  that  these  "  semi-crazy  enthu- 
siasts" condemned  enthusiasm  and  fanaticism, 
even  preaching  and  writing  against  some  of  the 
precise  extra\  agancies  of  which  he  complains, 
and  which  he  labors  to  impress  the  reader,  are 
essential  features  in  "  revivals,"  and  proofs  of  the 
mischievous  and  unhealthy  "  influence  of  re- 
ligion." 

Indeed,  he  maintains  that  no  one  can  consis- 
tently deny,  that  *'  the  Spirit  of  God  produces 
outcries,  tremblings,  convulsions,  fallings,  dreams, 
visions,  the  gift  of  tongues,  spirit  of  prophecy, 
and  all  that  the  most  wild  fanatics  from  the  ear- 
liest ages,  down  to  Irving,  Pierson  and  Matthias, 
have  claimed,"  while  at  the  same  time  professing 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  103 

to  believe  in  "  the  special  presence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  in  revivals !"  If  this  be  not  puerile,  pre- 
posterous and  absurd,  we  know  not  where  these 
attributes  are  discernible  in  all  the  sophistry  we 
have  ever  met  with.  He  asks,  in  a  strain  of  mock 
triumph,  *'  Who  can  point  out  the  dividing  line  in 
the  conduct  of  those  who  claim  to  be  actuated  by 
the  special  influence  of  God,  and  say  which  con- 
duct is  caused  b}^  the  Holy  Spirit  and  which  is 
not  f "  This  interrogatory  will  convince  the  reader, 
that  the  author  might  have  found  an  example  of 
"  wild  fanaticism,"  without  travelling  from  home, 
since  he  could  have  beheld  its  unconscious  victim 
if  he  would  but  have  approached  his  mirror.  His 
arrogant  question  finds  an  easy  solution,  when  we 
tell  him  that  the  Scriptures  are  our  "  infallible  rule 
of  faith  and  practice,"  and  by  these  we  may  ordi- 
narily decide,  even  in  doubtful  or  difficult  cases. 
But  in  the  instances  of  "  wild  fanaticism,"  he 
names,  the  merest  tyro  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
Bible,  could  solve  the  problem  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty, without  denying,  as  he  does,  that  "  God 
has  any  supernatural  dealings  with  men."  The 
creed  of  the  author,  as  we  have  seen,  is,  that  there 
is  no  medium,  either  there  is  no  such  thing  as  the 
"  special  influence  of  the  Spirit,"  or  all  who  claim 
it,  however  visionary  and  extravagant,  must  be 
relied  on  with  implicit  confidence.  His  article  of 
religion  on  this  subject  is  formed  irrespective  of 
the  Bible,  else  he  would  have  known  that  the 


104  REVIEW   OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

*'  sure  word  of  prophecy"  commands  us  to  "  try 
the  spirits,  whether  they  be  of  God,"  warns  us  of 
"  evil  spirits  and  false  prophets,  who  lie  in  wait  to 
deceive,"  and  furnishes  the  criterion  by  which 
we  may  infallibly  know  "  whether  the  spirits  be 
of  God."  His  ignorance  of  the  Bible  must  plead 
his  apology  in  this  instance,  also,  for  it  is  the  only 
mantle  broad  enough  to  protect  him  from  the 
charge  of  foul  moral  delinquency. 

After  such  a  course  of  sophistry  and  rhodomon- 
tade  as  we  have  just  noticed,  the  author  says, 
"Here  then  I  rest  \he  argument!  and  maintain, 
that  whatever  serves  to  prove  that  the  special 
presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  induces  awful  solem,' 
nity,  and  is  evinced  by  the  fiowing  tear,  will 
serve  to  prove  that  some  of  the  most  fanatical 
conduct  the  world  has  ever  known  was  owing  to 
the  special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  !" 
Let  us  see,  then,  how  this  "  argument  rests," 
though  we  might  rely  upon  the  fact,  that  it  is  ob- 
viously a  non  sequitur.  But  waiving  this,  as  he 
"  rests  the  argument  here,"  we  maintain  that  the 
Holy  Bible  p-ovcs,  that  the  special  presence  of 
God  induces  "awful  solemnity  j,  and  the  flowing 
tear,"  and  when  we  shall  show  this  by  one  or 
two  out  of  ten  thousand  citations  which  might  be 
made,  we  convict  the  author  of  profanely  affirm- 
ing, that  the  Bible  proves  that  the  "  nK>st  fana- 
tical conduct  the  world  has  ever  known,  was  pro- 
duced by  the  Spirit  of  God  !'^     To   prove  that 


REVIEW  OP  DR.  BRIGHAM.  105 

"  awful  solemnity"  results  from  the  presence  of 
God,  we  refer  the  author  to  the  exclamation  of 
Jacob,  "  And  he  was  afraid,  and  said,  surely  God 
is  in  this  place  and  I  knew  it  not.  How  dread- 
ful is  this  place,"  &c.,  and  if  the  New  Testament 
authorities  suit  him  better  let  him  contemplate  the 
"  awful  solemnity"  of  that  scene,  when  the  disci- 
ples exclaimed,  "  Master  it  is  good  for  us  to  be 
here,"  or  when  Saul  fell  beneath  the  "  awful  so- 
lemnity" which  "  affected  his  body  and  agitated 
his  mind,"  and  led  him  to  exclaim,  "  Lord  what 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do." 

And  as  the  "  flowing  tear"  gives  our  author 
great  offence,  and  he  stoutly  repudiates  the  idea, 
that  this  evinces  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
we  would  again  refer  him  to  the  weeping  of  the 
woman  whose  sins  were  forgiven  at  the  house  of 
Simon,  to  the  tears  of  Peter,  when  the  Spirit  of 
God  convicted  him  of  his  apostacy,  &c. 

But  these  will  suffice  to  establish  the  position, 
that  the  author's  logic  impiously  charges  upon  the 
Bible,  the  "  wildest  fanaticism  the  world  has  ever 
known:"  and  here  we  "leave  him  alone  in  his 
glory,"  and  proceed  to  notice  the  attempt  next 
made  to  ascribe  the  results  attributed  to  the  Spirit 
of  God,  to  natural  causes,  which,  he  maintains, 
will  account  for  them  all.  And  we  barely  remark, 
that  there  is  not,  to  our  apprehension,  in  the  uni- 
verse of  God,  an  object  of  purer  fanaticism,  more 
deserving  of  the  pity  of  angels  and  of  men,  than 


106  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

a  rtian  standing  unawed  into  solemnity,  and  un- 
moved to  contrition,  before  his  Omnipotent  Maker ! 
How  deep  the  moral  infatuation  which  can  scoff, 
deride,  and  even  sneer  at  the  emotions  which 
spontaneously  spring  up  in  the  hearts  of  those  who 
realize  the  presence  of  the  invisible  Jehovah  ! 

First  of  all,  the  author  perceives  a  striking  re- 
semblance between  the  *'  work  of  God,"  a  phrase 
which  he  significantly  quotes,  in  frequent  and 
vain  repetition,  and  which  his  peculiar  fanaticism, 
scarcely  names,  but  with  a  sneer,  and  the  symp- 
toms of  nervous  diseases,  such  as  hysterics,  con- 
vulsions, frenzy  and  insanity."  But  as  this  theory 
does  not  gratify  his  malice,  he  adds,  that  there  is 
a  striking  analogy  between  the  effects  of  "  revi- 
vals" and  witchcraft!  They  are  promoted,  he 
says,  by  the  same  means.  "  So  long  as  people 
talk  about  ghosts,  apparitions  and  witches,  so  long 
will  people  see  them,  and  to  prevent  witchcraft, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  cease  talking  of  witches." 
And  then,  he  adds,  with  imperturbable  gravity, 
"  So  it  may  he  with  religious  feelings  /"  The  reader 
should  remember  that  the  author  professes  to  be  a 
"  Christian,"  having  a  "  profound  respect  for  the 
religious  sentiment."  And  yet  he  proceeds  to  at- 
tribute every  kind  and  degree  of  religious  excite- 
ment to  the  same  causes  which  produce  a  belief 
in  ghosts  and  witches,  and  demonstrates  that  he 
believes  all  spiritual  experience  to  be  wholly  de- 
lusive and  imaginary. 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  107 

Not  satisfied,  however,  himself  with  his  own 
explanation  of  this  difficult  subject,  he  proceeds 
to  ascribe  these  extravagances  to  the  "  influence 
of  a  powerful  or  singularly  endowed  preacher, 
whgse  eloquence^  like  that  of  Whitfield  and  Wesley, 
leads  the  immense  multitude  to  be  passive  instru- 
ments in  his  hands."  Indeed,  under  such  circum- 
stances the  author  thinks  that  in  large  assemblies  the 
feelings  and  actions,  like  certain  other  fevers,  be- 
come contagious.  And  to  sustain  this  latter  opinion 
he  alludes  to  the  French  prophets,  as  a  sect  of 
trembling  and  convulsed  enthusiasts  were  called, 
who  appear  to  have  suffered  under  the  disease, 
called  Chorea  Sancti  Viti,  and  which  is  known  to 
be  propagated  by  a  propensity  to  imitation,  and 
which  under  certain  circumstances,  has  been 
thought  contagious.  He  also  introduces  "  demo- 
niac possession"  among  the  causes  of  similar  ex- 
citements and  delusions,  but  as  he  finds  "  the 
special  presence  and  agency  of  the  devil  but  rare- 
ly mentioned  in  the  accounts  of  modern  revivals, 
he  thinks  it  probable  that  the  belief  of  his  agency 
in  human  affairs  will  soon  pass  away." 

But  he  proceeds  to  explain  all  that  is  "myste- 
rious and  miraculous"  in  modern  revivals,  by  the 
phenomena  of  the  stupid  imposture  denominated 
"  animal  magnetism,"  and  this  he  does  in  the  same 
style  of  vulgarity  and  sarcasm  employed  by  the 
infidel  writers  whom  he  quotes.  And  as  these 
have,  over  and  again  been  answered  and  refuted, 


1 08  REVIEW  OP  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

we  need  not  detain  the  reader  with  any  farther 
notice  of  this  ridiculous  conceit. 

We  shall,  therefore,  briefly  consider  the  conclu- 
sions to  which  the  author  professes  to  arrive  in  the 
close  of  this  long  chapter.  The  first  is,  that  "  the 
outward  signs  and  visible  appearances  spoken  of 
in  revivals  may  have  other  causes  than  the  Spirit 
of  God."  This  we  readily  admit,  and  with  the 
knowledge  of  this  fact,  the  author  is  inexcusable 
for  pretending  to  ascribe  these  effects  to  religion, 
as  though  no  other  causes  resulted  in  "  affecting 
the  mind  and  agitating  the  body."  The  outward 
signs  of  which,  he  complains  so  hideously,  be- 
cause injurious  to  health  when  excited  by  reli- 
gious emotion,  awaken  no  anxiety  when  they  pro- 
ceed from  other  causes,  against  which  his  spleen 
has  not  been  directed.  But  the  author  has  neither 
the  manliness  nor  the  honesty  to  record,  what  he 
knows  the  truth  required  of  him,  that  these  out- 
ward signs  and  visible  appearances,  are,  so  far 
from  being  regarded  by  Christians  as  invariably 
the  effect  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  even  the  warm 
advocates  of  revivals  look  upon  them  as  suspi- 
cious, and  by  no  means  confide  in  the  experience 
of  such,  unless  constrained  to  do  so  by  that  moral 
revolution  of  the  life,  which  is  invariably  the  re- 
sult of  regeneration. 

The  second  sage  conclusion  to  which  the  reader 
is  brought  in  this  chapter,  is,  that  "  it  will  not  do 
to  rely  on  feelings^  as  evidence  of  the  presence  and 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  109 

agency  of  the  spirit  of  God,"  else  we  "  must  ad- 
mit the  claims  of  Mr.  Irving  and  numerous  other 
wild  fanatics  to  inspiration."  Here  is  a  truth  to 
which  the  most  strenuous  Christian  heartily  sub- 
scribes ;  and  it  is  because  no  friend  of  revivals 
ever  did  "  rely  on  feelings  as  such  evidence,"  that 
the  pr>etensions  of  all  such  fanatics  as  he  names 
are  detected  and  denied.  But  the  deliberate  de- 
sign of  the  author  obviously  is,  to  impose  upon 
the  reader  this  false  and  malicious  creed,  as  the 
undoubted  belief  of  those  who  speak  of  the  spe- 
cial presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  revivals. 
There  are  times  when  it  were  treason  to  truth  and 
justice,  to  withhold  the  expression  of  a  holy  in- 
dignation against  outrages  upon  common  decency ; 
and  we  are  constrained  to  say,  that  this  is  an  in- 
stance in  which  the  author  has  degraded  himself 
beneath  contempt. 

We  pass  to  his  third  inference,  in  which,  he 
assserts,  ^''  positively^''''  mhi^  usual  style  of  italicised 
dogmatism,  that  "the  Holy  Scriptures  do  not  war- 
rant us  in  believing  that  modern  revivals  are  caus- 
ed by  the  special  outpouring  of  the  spirit  of  God ;" 
and  he  affirms  this  as  certain^  while  he  thinks  it 
possible  they  "  may  be  so  construed  as  io  jjcirtialhj 
justify  the  opinions  of  Mr.  Irving."  And  here 
we  are  constrained  to  say,  that  the  author  exhibits 
no  great  excess  of  modesty  in  pronouncing  posi- 
tively and  certainly^  in  relation  to  the  testimony  of 

the  Holy  Scriptures,  when  he  has  already  mani- 

10 


110  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

fested,  so  palpably,  his  ignorance  of  their  contents; 
and  more  especially,  when  his  opinions  conflict 
with  those  of  the  most  profound^  learned  among 
the  scholars  of  the  old  and  new  world.  But  he 
will  pardon  us,  when  we  object  to  his  qualifications 
to  judge  in  relation  to  modern  revivals,  after 
having  failed  in  his  book  to  enlighten  his  readers 
in  reference  to  their  true  character.  He  has 
drawn  a  vile  caricature,  which  he  calls  a  "  modern 
revival;"  and  he  persuades  himself  into  the  stu- 
pid notion  that  the  "  outward  signs"  he  describes, 
are  the  effect  of  certain  "  feelings"  which  he  ima- 
gines ;  and  then  he  is  so  silh*  as  to  believe  that 
Christians  regard  both  these  "  outward  signs  and 
inward  feelings,"  as  the  evidences  of  the  special 
agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Now,  having  built 
this  man  of  straw,  he  goes  on  a  Quixotic  crusade 
ao:ainst  his  windmill,  and  with  consummate  stu- 
pidity,  felicitates  himself  on  having  made  a 
magnificent  conquest.  If  the  subject  were  not 
too  serious,  we  might  yield  to  the  temptation  to 
satirize  his  ludicrous  position ;  but,  however  tempt- 
ing, we  must  forbear. 

4thly.  He  enquires — "Does  the 'fruit'  of  these 
revivals  force  us  to  believe  that  nothing  but  the 
special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  causes  them  ?" 
To  this  sober  question  we  might  have  expected, 
from  any  other  than  an  infidel,  a  direct  and  sober 
answer  ;  but  the  author  proceeds  to  hold  up  the 
wrangling  and  disputes  of  the  same  sect,  and  of 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  Ill 

different  sects,  and  represents  these  and  other 
"  works  of  the  flesh"  as  the  "  fruits  of  revivals  ;" 
and  this  in  the  face  of  the  facts  known  and  read 
of  all  men,  that  these  reprehensible  disputes  are 
universally  alleged  as  hindrances  to  revivals 
wherever  they  exist.  If  he  had  been  desiring,  as 
he  professes,  to  "  elicit  the  truth,"  he  would,  in 
reply  to  his  question,  have  given  the  known  fruits 
of  revivals,  as  described  by  the  authors  from 
whose  works  he  has  elsewhere  quoted.  We  find 
on  page  241 — 2  of  his  own  book,  that  the  fruits 
of  revivals  are  described  by  Mr.  Wesley,  to  be 
the  "  conversion  of  the  drunkard,  the  whore- 
monger, the  oppressor,  the  swearer,  the  sluggard, 
the  miser,  and  prostitutes."  And  Mr.  Finney  is 
quoted  on  the  same  subject,  as  follows  :  *'  Very 
often  the  most  abandoned  profligates  are  among 
the  subjects  of  revivals.  Harlots  and  drunkards, 
and  infidels,  and  all  sorts  of  abandoned  characters 
are  awakened  and  converted.  The  worst  part 
of  human  society  are  softened  and  reclaimed,  and 
made  to  appear  as  lovely  specimens  of  the  beauty 
of  holiness." 

These  then  are  the  "fruits  of  revivals,"  as 
quoted  by  the  author,  from  the  writings  of  their 
friends,  whose  experience  and  learning  qualified 
them  to  judge  correctly,  and  whose  veracity  is 
beyond  reproach.  Indeed,  the  author  does  not 
deny  the  facts,  but  alleges,  that  all  these  things 
"have  often  happened  before;"  and  labours  to 


112  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

account  for  them  by  blotting  the  name  of  God 
Ahiiighty  out  of  the  Universe  so  far  as  in  him 
lies.  Here,  however,  we  have  the  fruits  after 
which  he  inquires  ;  and  on  these  we  rest  the  argu- 
ment. 

He  ma}^  ascribe  these  results  to  "  nervous  dis- 
eases, witchcraft,  demoniacal  possession,  eloquent 
ministers,  or  to  animal  magnetism  ;"  and  so 
long  as  by  any  of  these  agents  he  can  effect  these 
moral  wonders,  we  shall  not  forbid  him  to  *'cast 
out  devils,"  because  he  follows  not  us  ;  but  will 
rejoice  in  any  instance  of  his  success.  Neverthe- 
less we  will  still  believe  and  maintain  that  "  there 
is  no  other  name  given  among  men  by  which  we 
can  be  saved,  but  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ ;"  and 
o  his  Spirit  and  its  "  special  influence,"  we  will 
still  attribute  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the 
reformation  of  the  profligate  and  abandoned.  And 
while  we  unite  with  the  author  in  denying  that 
those  who  "  manifest  the  works  of  the  flesh"  are 
"  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit,"  whatever  be  their  pre- 
tensions ;  3^et,  we  as  positively  deny  that  such  are 
in  whole  or  in  part  the  ''  fruit"  of  either  ancient 
or  modern  revivals ;  and  we  are  shocked  at  the 
hardihood  under  which  he  could  make  the  insinu- 
ation. The  "  fruits  of  the  Spirit,"  as  described 
in  the  New  Testament,  "love,  jo}^,  peace,  long 
suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness, 
and  temperance,"  are  those  which  must  and  do 
follow  every   genuine  revival  of  religion;    and 


REVIEW   OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  113 

where  these  do  not  appear,  or  whatever  may  ac- 
company revivals  contrary  to,  or  incompatible 
with  these,  we  utterly  reject,  and  are  willing  that 
the  author  may  attribute  them  to  animal  magnet- 
ism, or  whatever  other  cause  may  suit  his  taste  or 
philosophy. 

We  have  not  forgotten,  however,  that  the  au- 
thor affirms,  in  the  "  introduction,"  that  b}^  the 
phrase  "  fruits  of  the  Spirit,"  in  the  Scriptures, 
nothing  more  is  meant  than  the  natural  results  of 
the  moral  and  intellectual  powers  of  man  ;  and 
the  apostolic  catalogue  is  there  repeated  as  result- 
ing from  the  "  inherent  moral  powers,"  and  not 
the  fruit  of  any  "  supernatural  gift."  So,  that  if 
these  "  qualities"  were  universally  the  "  fruit  of 
revivals,"  in  all  the  subjects,  still,  according  to 
his  theory,  they  would  furnish  no  evidence  of  the 
special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  he  so 
pertinaciously  denies.  It  would  be  useless,  there- 
fore, to  pursue  this  subject  any  farther,  with  so  in- 
corrigible a  sceptic. 

His  last  inquiry  in  this  chapter,  deserves  a 
more  particular  notice — it  is  this  :  "  Do  the  lives 
of  those  men  of  past  ages — men  illustrious  for 
their  piety — men  who  have  been  the  foremost  and 
ablest  advocates  of  Christianity — men  who  have 
been  the  bulwarks  of  the  Protestant  religion — 
teach  us  that  they  were  thus  affected  and  con- 
verted ?"  To  this  interrogatory,  we  give  an  une- 
quivocal affirmative  answer  ;  and  on  the  proof  of 
10* 


114  REVIEW   OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

this,  we  are  willing  to  rest  for  the  refutation  of  the 
author  and  his  book, 

In  the  first  place,  then,  we  refer  to  the  experi- 
ence of  the  Old  Testament  saints,  as  well  as  the 
conversion  of  the  primitive  disciples  of  Christ,  as 
recorded  in  the  New  Testament.  The  Psalmist 
undoubtedly  felt  what  the  author  calls  an  "  affec- 
tion of  the  mind,  and  agitation  of  the  body."  At 
one  time,  he  exclaims — "  Against  thee,  and  thee 
onlj^,  have  I  sinned^  O  God,  and  done  this  evil  in 
thy  sight ;"  and  again,  "  My  soul  is  exceeding 
mrroicfid '^''  "My  tears  are  my  meat  and  drink 
both  day  and  night ;"  "  The  sorrows  of  death  com- 
passed me,  the  fains  of  hell  got  hold  upon  me,  I 
found  trouhle  and  sorrow.  Then  called  I  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  Oh,  Lord,  I  beseech  thee  de- 
liver my  soul ;"  "  Cleanse  thou  me  from  secret 
faults;"  "Take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  tiie  ;"" 
"  Uphold  me  with  thy  free  Spirit."  Here  we  see 
clearly  that  David  not  only  felt  "  awful  solem- 
nit}',"  but  it  was  accompanied  by  great  excite^ 
ment,  sorrow,  pain,  trouble,  tears,  prayers,  and 
what  is  still  more,  he  believed  in  the  "  special  in- 
fluence of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  which  is  the  distin- 
guishing feature  in  modern  revivals,  and  which  the 
author  represents  as  contrary  to  Scripture  or 
reason. 

But  let  us  turn  to  the  New  Testament,  and  we 
shall  find  numerous  instances  of  similar  affections 
of  the  mind  and  agitations  of  the  body.     The  con- 


REVIEW   OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  115 

version  of  St.  Paul  was  attended  with  more  ex- 
citement, emotion,  and  what  the  author  calls  ex- 
travagance and  wild  fanaticism,  than  ordinarily 
attends  modern  revivals,  and  that  he  taught  and 
experienced  the  "  special  influence  of  the 
Spirit,"  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  prove  by  cita- 
tions." If  any  man  have  not  the  Sjnrit  of  Christ, 
he  is  none  of  his."  "  The  Spirit  itself  beareth 
witness  with  our  spirits,  that  we  are  the  children 
of  God."  And  he  speaks  of  it  as  the  common 
privilege  of  Christians  to  be  "  sealed  with  the 
spirit,"  and  "  filled  with  the  spirit,"  which  cannot 
be  understood  to  be  any  other  than  its  "  special  in- 
fluence," as  claimed  in  revivals. 

But  to  come  to  more  modern  times,  we  are 
content  that  this  question  may  be  decided  by  a  few 
individuals  out  of  the  great  multitude,  which  no 
man  can  number,  who  will  be  witnesses  before  the 
throne,  in  that  day  "  for  which  all  other  days  were 
made."  Edwards,  Wesley,  Whitfield,  Baxter, 
and  others  whom  he  names,  would  be  rejected  by 
the  author  as  incompetent  witnesses,  because  of 
their  fanaticism,  but  David  and  Paul,  and  the 
whole  testimony  of  inspiration,  are  all  under  the 
same  condemnation.  Newton,  and  Watson,  and 
Payson,  and  Robert  Hall,  and  John  Mason  Good, 
were  all  so  fanatical,  in  his  estimation,  that  though 
he  appeals  to  the  experience  of  such  men,  "  as 
have  been  the  ablest  advocates  of  Christianity," 
yet  he  dares  to  do  so,  only  because  he  is  ignorant 


IIG  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

of  their  history  ;  for  all,  all  such  are  against  his 
creed,  and  none  l)nt  infidels  will  be  found,  who 
deny  the  "  special  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  in 
the  regeneration  and  salvation  of  the  soul.  Paley, 
whom  the  author  quotes,  has  been  so  often  and  so 
ably  disposed  of,  that  it  is  needless  to  reply  to  his 
speculations,  some  of  which  are  both  ridiculous 
and  absurd,  and  for  this  reason  they  readily  assi- 
milate with  the  creed  and  philosophy  of  Dr. 
Brigham. 

Having  thus  followed  the  author  throughout 
this  long  chapter,  we  proceed  to  the  next,  which 
is  more  professional,  and  treats  of  the  injury  of 
the  brain  and  nervous  system,  from  frequent  meet- 
ings and  religious  excitements ;  the  increase  of  cer- 
tain diseases  from  these  causes — and  concludes 
with  special  advice  to  the  ladies  and  to  clergy- 
men. 

And  first  of  all  we  have  a  ver}^  learned  descrip- 
tion, anatomical,  physiological,  pathological,  and 
j^hrcnological  of  the  human  brain,  in  which  he  as- 
sumes, First,  that  the  brain  is  the  organ  by  which 
the  mind  acts,  a  truism  which  no  one  doubts,  and 
in  relation  to  which  he  might  have  spared  the  os- 
tentatious display  of  authorities  to  substantiate  it. 
His  inferences,  however,  from  this  undisputed 
fact,  are  profoundly  stupid,  as  we  shall  presently 
have  occasion  to  show. 

His  second  assumj^tion  is  purely  such,  though  he 
calls  it  a  well  established  position,  susceptible  of 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRiaHAM.  117 

positive  proof.  It  is  this,  that  "  all  excitement  of 
the  mind  increases  the  action  of  the  brain."  This 
doctrine  is  anatomically  and  physiologically  false, 
nor  is  there,  among  his  pretended  *'  proofs,"  a  sin- 
gle instance  of  even  the  semblance  of  evidence 
in  its  favor.  It  is  not  proved,  nor  can  it  ever  be 
shown  to  be  at  all  probable,  even  by  analogy,  that 
*'  the  brain,  or  that  nervous  mass  contained  within 
the  skull,"  is  capable  of  action  of  any  kind.  And 
the  reader  will  perceive,  by  examining  the  cases 
referred  to  by  the  author,  that  they  are  wholly  ir- 
relevant, though  for  the  purpose  of  imposing  upon 
popular  credulity,  they  are  adroitly  and  plausibly 
urged  as  direct  and  conclusive  evidence. 

For  example,  he  says,  "  sometimes  when  the 
mental  excitement  is  very  great,  instant  death  is 
produced  from  the  rujHure  of  a  blood-vessel  in  the 
brain,  causing  apoplexy."  This  is  his  first  testi- 
mony in  proof  of  the  "  action  of  thehrainy''  when 
there  is  demonstrably  no  action  of  any  kind  in  the 
brain,  or  that  "  nervous  mass  which  occupies  the 
skull ;"  but  only  an  "  increased  action  in  the 
heart  and  circulating  system,  by  which  more  blood 
is  sent  to  the  head  than  can  be  sustained,"  and  these 
are  his  own  words  on  the  succeeding  page,  and 
they  explain  the  pathological  truth,  not  only  of 
the  case  here  named,  but  of  all  the  examples  he 
gives  of  death  occasioned  by  anger,  fear,  grief 
and  joy,  or  other  excessive  mental  emotions. 
That  the  author  himself  understands  this  subject 


118  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

correctly,  is  evident  from  his  ascribing  the  flushed 
countenance,  in  such  examples,  to  an  "  increased 
nish  of  blood  to  the  head,"  which  he  cannot  but 
know  is  the  result  of  the  vis  a  tcrgo  in  the  heart, 
and  not  in  the  hrain.  If  there  was  any  conceiva- 
ble action  performed  by  the  brain,  it  would  be  in 
offering  resistance  to  this  "rush  of  blood,"  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  fundamental  law  of  nature,  in 
which  the  different  organs  of  the  body  are  endow- 
ed with  this  power  for  their  own  protection.  In- 
stead of  which,  however,  in  all  the  true  examples 
he  cites,  the  mental  emotion  increases  the  action 
of  the  heart,  and  the  blood  rushes  to  the  brain  with 
increased  velocity,  while  this  organ,  instead  of 
being  active  is  perfectly  yassive,  as  in  the  apoplexy 
which  follows,  and  in  which  the  pressure  upon  the 
brain,  produced  by  the  effused  blood,  paralyzes 
that  organ  mechanically,  as  any  other  foreign  body, 
so  that  sudden  death  is  produced.  Such  is  the 
truth  in  the  case,  as  every  pathological  authority 
he  names  unitedly  prove,  and  as  dissection  univer- 
sally demonstrates. 

It  is  as  idle,  then,  to  pretend  that  "  all  excite- 
ment of  the  mind  increases  the  action  of  the 
i?-am,"  as  it  would  be  superlative  folly  to  affirm, 
that  mental  excitement  increases  the  action  of  the 
NOSE,  when  epistaxis,  or  bleedhig  from  this  organ 
occurs,  under  such  circumstances,  which  is  by  no 
means  un frequent,  and  universally  salutary,  be- 
cause hemorrhage  in  the  brain  is  thus  prevented. 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  119 

Or,  indeed,  the  author  might  with  equal  propriety 
assert,  that  emotions  of  the  mind  increase  the  ac- 
tion of  the  stomach  or  bowels,  the  kidneys  or  bladder, 
for  abundant  proofs  are  on  record,  in  which  the 
excessive  indulgence  of  the  stimulating  passions  of 
anger  or  joy,  has  produced  excessive  and  even  fatal 
hemorrhages  from  these  several  organs,  and  the 
depressing  passions  of  grief  and  fear  have  been 
followed,  when  inordinately  indulged,  by  exten- 
sive secretions  and  excretions  from  each  of  these 
portions  of  the  body.  And  the  flow  of  tears,  which 
is  involuntary  and  uncontrollable  in  almost  all 
cases  of  intemperate  mental  emotions,  might  af- 
ford him  equal  authority  for  the  axiom,  that  all  ex- 
citement of  the  mind  increases  the  action  of  the 
eyes,  or  the  lachrymal  apparatus  appended  to  them 
But  he  knows  very  well  that  all  these  arise  from 
the  increased  action  of  the  heart,  and  there  is  no 
action  of  the  brai7i  in  any  case,  other  than  the  pas- 
sive action,  if  it  may  be  so  called,  of  transmitting 
through  the  nerves,  the  stimulating  or  depressing 
mental  cause  to  the  heart,  and  this  organ  is  that, 
the  increased  action  of  which  produces  apoplexy 
and  death,  either  by  distending  the  vessels  of  the 
brain  until  they  rupture  and  empty  their  blood 
into  the  cavity  of  the  skull,  or  by  their  distention 
alone,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  producing  the 
same  result. 

The  same  may  be  said   of  the   example   he 
names  of  sudden  death  in  public  speakers,  during 


f  . 


120  REVIEW  OF    DR.  BRIGHAM. 

their  bursts  of  eloquence,  which  he  falsely  ascribes 
to  mental  exertion  and  the  action  of  the  brain, 
when  he  ought  to  know  that  all  such  cases  arise 
from  i^hysical  exertion^  not  mental,  as  in  the  impas- 
sioned efforts  which  accompany  these  bursts  of 
eloquence.  In  all  such  instances  the  increased 
action  of  the  hearty  and  not  oj  the  brain  is  the  cause 
of  the  mischief. 

The  citations  from  Astley  Cooper,  Broussais, 
and  Blumenbach,  are  striking  illustrations  for  our 
purpose,  since  what  they  record  as  evidence  of 
the  action  of  the  heart,  Dr.  Brigham  gratuitous^ 
attributes  to  the  fiction  of  his  phrenological  theo- 
ry, the  '"'■  action  of  the  brain."  They  speak  of 
mental  and  moral  causes  having  increased  the 
"  pulsations  of  the  brain,"  and  having  resulted  in 
"engorgement  of  blood,"  and  even  "  inflammation 
of  the  brain,"  but  they  never  dreamed  that  these 
arose  from  any  other  action  than  the  action  of  the 
heart  and  blood  vessels. 

The  reader  may  now  correctly  appreciate  the 
opinions  of  the  author  when  he  urges  an  analogy 
between  the  effect  of  religious  excitement  in  in- 
creasing the  '*  action  of  the  brain,"  and  the  influ- 
ence of  ardent  spirits  upon  the  stomach  ;  and  he 
infers  this  analogical  doctrine,  and,  indeed,  says, 
*'  it  must  be  true,  if  it  be  true  that  the  brain  is  the 
organ  on  which  the  mind  acts."  This  ridiculous 
sophism  is  exposed  from  the  obvious  consideration 
that  there  can  be  no  parallel  in  the  cases.     In  the 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  121 

one,  the  stimulus  acts  not  only  upon  the  heart,  but 
directly  upon  the  stomach  itself;  and  this  action 
is  mechanical  and  chemical ;  while  in  the  case  of 
mental  and  religious  excitement,  there  is  no  other 
action  than  that  of  the  heart,  and  the  series  of 
consecutive  effects  which  result  from  an  increased 
circulation  of  the  blood.  Whatever  else  the  au- 
thor may  imagine  religion  to  be,  he  can  never  per- 
suade even  himself  into  the  notion,  that  it  can  be 
a  mechanical  and  chemical  irritating  fluid  upon  the 
brain,  as  ardent  spirit  is  upon  the  stomach,  when 
introduced  into  that  organ.  It  is  true  there  is  a 
striking  analogy  in  his  morbidly  perturbed  mind, 
since  he  proposes  the  same  remedy  for  intempe- 
rance in  religion,  as  philanthropists  recommend  in 
reference  to  ardent  spirits ;  for,  if  the  maxims  of 
his  book  are  obeyed,  total  abstinence  from  religion 
would  be  the  only  course  for  the  security  of  the 
"health  and  physical  welfare  of  mankind." 

The  next  position  of  the  author  is,  that "  insani- 
tiji  epilejjsy,  convidsions,  organic  affections  of  the 
heart,  and  many  of  the  most  dangerous  deseases" 
are  "  caused  by  mental  excitement  increasing  the 
momentum  of  blood  to  the  brain  !"  Mark,  not  "the 
action  of  the  brain,"  but  the  action  of  the  heart ; 
for  this  alone,  as  we  have  seen,  can  produce  an 
increase  of  the  "  momentum  of  blood"  to  any 
organ.  The  author  finds  it  convenient  or  expe- 
dient to  save  his  professional  reputation  at  the 

expense  of  phrenology,  in  this  as  in  other  cases. 
11 


122  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

We  design  to  convince  the  reader,  in  these  brief 
hints,  that  insanity,  when  it  arises  from  mental  or 
moral  causes,  which  is  sometimes  the  case,  is 
uniformly  attributed  by  the  author  to  what  he  calls 
the  "  increased  action  of  the  brain,"  which  im- 
plies, and  takes  this  for  granted,  that  there  is  an 
action  performed  by  that  organ  in  health,  and  that 
the  increase  of  it  constitutes  the  disease.  This 
is  a  dogma  of  phrenology  ;  but  is  both  unfounded 
and  irrational,  since  the  structure  of  the  brain,  so 
far  from  affording  the  least  indication  of  a  capa- 
city for  action,  ought  to  satisfy  any  observer  that 
it  is  merely  an  organ  of  transmission,  and  not  of 
action,  since  for  this  latter  it  has  no  adaptation. 
The  office  of  the  brain,  and  for  which  it  is  adapt- 
ed with  consummate  skill,  as  seen  in  the  appara- 
tus of  nerves  emanating  from  it,  and  which  are 
the  channels  through  which  mental  emotions  and 
sensations  are  conveyed  to  the  different  portions 
of  the  body,  is  justly  expressed  by  the  author  when 
he  says,  it  is  "  the  organ  on  which  the  mind  acts,^^ 
thus  admitting  that  the  brain  is  acted  on  by  the 
mind,  not  that  itself  performs  any  act.  And  yet, 
by  a  strange  incoherency  and  inconsistency,  he  is 
found  insisting,  in  the  same  paragraph,  upon  the 
^^  action  of  the  brain,"  and  explaining  the  rationale 
of  insanity,  by  the  inordinate  degree  of  this  action, 
which  he  says  results  from  "  mental  or  religious 
excitement."  And  yet  he  soon  forgets  this  phre- 
nological theory,  and  records  that  '*  in  cases  of  in- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  123 

sanity  there  are  always  found,  upon  dissection, 
visible  marks  of  disease  and  disorganization  of  the 
stmcture  of  the  brcmi.^^ 

Here  we  have  the  pathological  fact,  admitted  by 
himself,  which  explodes  his  whole  theory,  by 
furnishing  the  key  to  unlock  the  mystery  by  which 
he  is  so  sadly  puzzled  ;  and,  by  this  single  fact, 
the  modus  ojyei'ajidi  of  the  mind  in  cases  of  insani- 
ty, is  shown  to  be  dependent  on  a  very  different 
cause,  from  any  real  or  imaginary  "  action  of  the 
brain."  We  need  none  of  the  lights  of  phrenolo- 
gy, or  indeed  those  of  any  other  "  science,  falsely 
so  called,"  to  aid  us  in  so  plain  an  inquiry.  Com- 
mon sense  will  enable  us  to  decide,  that  if  "  the 
brain  is  the  organ  on  which  the  mind  acts,"  any 
morbid  alteration  in  the  structure  of  this  organ, 
will  necessarily  result  in  irregular  action,  not  of 
the  organ,  but  of  the  mind,  which  is  obhged  to 
act  on  a  diseased  or  defective  organ.  Hence,  in- 
sanity, by  whatever  cause  it  may  appear  to  origi- 
nate, is  a  disease  purely  physical,  and  is,  by  wise 
men,  uniformly  ascribed  to  disease  in  "  the  organ 
on  which  the  mind  acts  ;"  and  it  is  irrational  and 
absurd  to  prate,  as  the  author  does,  about  the 
'*  action  of  the  brain."  But  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  revert  again  to  this  subject,  and  we  there- 
fore proceed. 

After  a  grave  attempt  to  prove  that  ijisanity  is  a 
disease  of  the  brain,  and  not  a  malady  affecting 
the  immaterial,  immortal  mind  itself,  which  no 


124  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

one  bul  an  idiot  or  a  materialist  ever  soberly  ima- 
gined, we  have  it  affirmed  that  it  invariably  arises 
from  mental  or  moral  causes.  This  absurd  and 
ridiculous  statement  of  the  author,  betrays  a 
reclvlessness  of  truth,  and  a  contempt  for  medical 
authorities,  which,  if  his  hopeless  ignorance  of  the 
subject  does  not  palliate,  must  imply  moral  de- 
linquency of  the  most  deplorable  kind.  Indeed, 
the  plea  of  ignorance  will  scarcely  avail  him, 
since  the  reports  of  the  Connecticut  Retreat  for 
the  Insane,  an  institution  located  in  his  own  city, 
and  with  which  he  professes  an  acquaintance, 
most  conclusively  refute  all  he  has  written.  From 
the  tenth  Annual  Report,  now  before  us,  it  will  be 
seen,  that  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixteen  cases 
of  mania  and  melancholy,  including  insanity  of 
every  form,  in  the  Hartford  Asylum,  more  than 
one-third  are  either  attributed  to  "  hereditary 
or  constitutional"  causes,  or  are  set  down  "  un- 
known," there  being  no  suspicion  of  mental  or 
moral  excitement  in  either  of  them.  The  rest 
are  variously  ascribed  to  the  following  'physical 
causes,  viz.  "  intemperance,  dyspepsia,  puerperal 
fever,  repelled  eruptions,  insolation,  onanism,  ill- 
health,  intermittent  fever,  liver  complaint,  amen- 
orrhoea,  monorrhagia,  leucorrhoea,  epilepsy,  par- 
alysis, inflnmmation  of  the  bowels,  licentiousness, 
and  excessive  hodihj  exertion."  These  are  the 
various  causes,  purely  physical,  which  have  re- 
sulted in  insanity,  and  when  the  hereditary  and 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  125 

constitutional  cases  are  added,  they  will  be  found 
to  constitute  a  large  majority  of  the  cases,  not  only 
in  this  institution,  but  in  every  similar  one,  where 
investigation  into  the  causes  is  made  with  any 
degree  of  accuracy.  It  is  true  that  this  report, 
in  enumerating  the  supposed  remote  and  exciting 
causes,  attributes  a  considerable  number  of  the 
cases  to  grief,  disappointment,  and  other  mental 
causes,  yet,  out  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
cases,  only  seven  are  even  suspected  to  be  in  any 
wise  connected  with  religious  excitement  or  anxi- 
ety, and  this  is  itself  a  palpable  contradiction  of 
Dr.  Brigham  and  his  book. 

In  the  first  place,  he  maintains  that  insanity 
uniformly  arises  from  mental  and  moral  excite- 
ment, and  quotes,  with  approbation,  the  testimony 
of  a  French  infidel,  who  says,  that  "  those  causes 
which  tend  to  derange  the  brain,  by  the  very  exer- 
cise of  its  own  functions,  are  the  most  frequent,  nay, 
almost  the  only  causes  ca])able  of  producing  mental 
alienation."  This  is  a  virtual  denial  of  the  fact 
which  universal  observation  and  experience  will 
demonstrate,  that  nearly  all  the  insane  are  here- 
ditarily predisposed  to  this  malady  by  physical 
causes  ;  though,  as  is  well  known,  it  is  exceeding- 
ly difficult  to  obtain  from  the  friends  of  patients, 
this  humiliating  and  disreputable  confession,  as  it 
is  regarded ;  for  to  conceal  a  family  predisposi- 
tion to  this  dreadful  disease,  is  natural  and  for  the 
sake  of  others,  in  some  cases,  it  may  be  laudable. 


12G  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

And  this  denial  of  the  author  is  made  by  a  strange 
fatuity,  in  the  face  of  the  truth,  which  he  himself 
attests  by  numerous  authorities,  that  "  thickening 
of  the  skull,  organic  alteration  of  the  brain,  and 
other  changes  of  structure  are  always  found  in  the 
heads  of  insane  people  upon  dissection."  Surely 
whatever  stress  he  may  be  disposed  to  place  upon 
the  "  action  of  the  brain,''''  which  he  imagines  to  be 
the  result  of  mental  emotion  and  excitement,  he 
can  scarcely  deceive  himself  into  the  opinion  that 
"  thickening  of  the  skiiW  is  thus  produced,  for  this 
theory  would  explode  his  whole  phrenological  fa- 
bric, and  annihilate  his  favorite  "  science  of 
bumps." 

But  we  next  find  him  maintaining  that  while 
mental  excitement  on  any  subject  may  produce 
ijisanitij,  there  is  "  especial"  danger  from  the 
subject  of  "  religion  r^  Indeed,  be  declares  that 
*'  in  all  ages  religion  has  been  one  of  the  7nost 
fruitful  sources  of  the  disease  !"  And  this  inexcu- 
sable and  henious  outrage  upon  historical  truth,  he 
attempts  to  bolster  by  kindred  authorities.  For 
Its  ample  and  conclusive  refutation,  the  reader 
need  only  refer  to  the  facts  contained  in  the  report 
to  which  we  have  just  alluded,  wherein  he  will 
discover  that  there  are  but  sevens  out  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  cases  of  insanity  in  the  Hartford 
Asylum,  which  are  even  sujtposcd  to  be  caused  by 
this  "  most  fruitful  source  of  the  disease."  Only 
one-seventeenth  of  the  examples,  if  this  be,  as  we 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  127 

suppose,  a  fair  average,  can  possibly  be  attribu- 
ted to  religion,  directly  or  indirectly ;  and  a  large 
majority  of  them  are  distinctly  ascribed,  in  the 
report,  to  physical  causes,  in  which  religious  and 
mental  excitement  cannot  possibly  have  had  any 
share.  And  yet,  with  these  demonstrations  in  his 
own  city,  and  under  his  own  eye,  the  author  does 
not  scruple,  for  the  support  of  his  theory,  to  make 
assertions  which  are  as  utterly  at  variance  with 
truth,  as  with  every  species  of  medical  philoso- 
phy. 

The  report  to  which  reference  is  had,  is  select- 
ed because  of  its  being  issued  in  Hartford,  where 
the  author  resides,  and  not  because  of  any  singu- 
lar or  peculiar  adaptation  to  our  purpose.  Simi- 
lar documents  from  any  of  the  Asylums  for  the 
Insane,  in  our  own  and  other  countries,  present 
the  same  facts,  and  many  of  them  in  a  still 
stronger  light.  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  in  his  valua- 
ble work  on  "  Diseases  of  the  Mind,"  not  only  be- 
clares  that  in  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  the  cases 
were  very  rare  which  were  ascribed  to  religion, 
however  remotely,  and  these  iJivariahly  to  "erro- 
neous opinions  in  religion  ;"  but  they  were,  for 
the  most  part,- temporary,  and  peculiarly  suscep- 
tible of  cure  ;  and  recent  inquiries  of  one  of  the 
most  extensive  practitioners  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, whose  opportunities  in  the  management 
of  insanity  have  probably  equalled  those  of  any 
other  on  the  continent,  have  elicited  the  opinion 


128  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

that  not  one  in  fifty  cases,  can  be  ascribed  to  re- 
ligion ;  and  he  never  saw  one  such,  but  it  was 
found  to  have  occurred  in  a  constitution  heredita- 
rily predisposed  to  the  malady.  In  the  Bloom- 
ingdale  Asylum,  near  New  York,  observations 
accurately  made  upon  all  the  cases  which  have 
been  received  from  the  commencement  of  the  in- 
stitution, have  convinced  the  able  and  estimable 
physician  of  the  house,  that  not  more  than  one  in 
forty  can  be  referred  to  religion  as  its  source, 
however  remotely.  Indeed,  so  far  from  religion 
being  among  "the  most  fruitful  sources  of  insan- 
ity," it  must  be  concededby  all  whose  inteUigence 
and  candor  are  led  to  investigate  the  subject,  that 
if  the  disease  has  ever  been  produced  by  religious 
excitement,  which  is  very  possible,  that  such  cases 
are  very  rare,  proportionably  to  other  causes. 
And  the  fact  that  professors  of  religion  are  so  sel- 
dom found  among  the  victims  of  insanity,  is 
doubtless  to  be  ascribed  to  the  preventive  influence 
of  religion,  which  the  author  not  only  wholly  over- 
looks, but  utterly  denies.  Among  the  mental 
causes  to  which  insanity  is  often  ascribed,  we 
find  enumerated  "  the  loss  of  friends,"  "  disap- 
ment  in  business,"  '*  reverses  of  fortune,"  and 
other  calamities,  all  of  which  are  perennially  suf- 
fered by  multitudes,  who,  but  for  the  powerful 
supports  and  comforts  of  religion,  would,  in  all 
rational  probability,  fall  victims  to  melancholy  and 
insanity,  and  are  only  preserved  in  these  fiery 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  129 

trials,  by  the  consolations  which  religion,  and  re- 
ligion alone,  has  power  to  bestow. 

If  there  were  any  semblance  of  truth  in  the  as- 
sertions of  the  author  on  this  subject,  or  any 
correctness  in  his  theory,  instead  of  a  few  soli- 
tary cases  of  religious  mania,  we  should,  in  these 
days  of  religious  excitement,  and  even  fanaticism, 
be  authorized  to  expect  a  multitude  of  such  ex- 
amples. But  what  he  lacks  in  facts,  he  makes  up 
in  wild  and  gratuitous  assertions,  as  startling  as 
they  are  unfounded,  as  the  following  specimens 
will  prove :  "No  other  disease  is  probably  in- 
creasing faster  in  our  country  than  insanity  !"  and 
he  even  *'  fears  that  it  alread}''  prevails  here  to  a 
greater  extent  than  in  any  other  coimtry,''^  and  these 
deplorable  results,  which  his  morbid  imagination 
has  conjured  up,  to  affright  himself  and  others,  he 
ascribes  to  *'  exciting  the  minds  of  the  young,  and 
particularly /ema/e5,  on  the  subject  of  religion  !" 
Indeed, such  is  the  peculiar  horror  of  his  perturbed 
intellect,  upon  this  frightful  subject,  that  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  if  the  author  were  em- 
ployed to  investigate  the  causes  o^  mania  a  potu, 
puerj)eral  insanity,  or  even  the  hereditary  cases  in  a 
mad-house,  he  would  find  that  every  one  of  them, 
had  some  time  or  other,  been  at  a  cam^  meeting,  or  a 
Sunday  school,  a  ])rotracted  meeting,  or  ixvival, 
a  sun-rise  prayer  meeting,  or  at  least  a  night  meeting  ! 
and  hence,  most  logically,  attribute  them  all  to 
religion,  or  at  least  to  the  "  religious  sentiment," 


130  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

which,  according  to  his  philosophy,  "  brought 
death  into  the  world  and  all  our  woes."  We 
must  not  forget,  however,  to  remind  the  reader, 
that  this  most  potent  "  cause  of  causes,"  so  fruit- 
ful of  insanity,  epilepsy,  and  convulsions,  was 
"  implanted  in  man  by  his  Creator  !"  and  has  the 
author's  "  profound  respect !" 

But  he  seems  so  apprehensive  that  the  reader 
will  be  incredulous  in  relation  to  the  actual  pro- 
duction and  development  of  these  frightful  mala- 
dies, as  resulting  from  religion^  that  he  labors  to 
terrify  us  by  the  warning,  that  even  if  it  does  not 
ACTUALLY  producc  thcsc  violent  and  fatal  dis- 
eases, yet  it  "  may  give  rise  to  melancholy^  hypo- 
chondriasis ^  tic  dolor eux,  nervous  affections,  diseases  of 
the  stomach,''''  &c.,  &c.;  and  though  he  labors  to 
establish  this  position,  until  he  exposes  the  weak- 
ness of  his  cause,  yet  he  leaves  it  like  the  former, 
without  a  particle  of  evidence. 

Failing,  however,  to  implicate  rehgion  in  the 
foul  accusation  he  has  brought  against  it,  he  still 
insists  that  mental  excitement  is  dangerous,  be- 
cause the  "South  sea  bubble,"  the  '* revolutions 
of  America  and  France,"  &c.  produced  cases  of 
insanity.  After  these,  and  the  like  very  relevant 
arguments,  in  proof  of  the  "  influence  of  religion 
upon  the  health  and  physical  welfare  of  mankind," 
he  concludes  by  the  following  prodigious  an- 
nouncement, "  religious  excitement,  like  all  mental 
excitement,  may    cause  insanity  and  other    di* 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  131 

sreases,"  and  then  admits,  though  with  constrained 
and  reluctant  grimace,  that  "  pure  religion,  Chris- 
tianity, has  no  such  effect;  but  the  abuse  of  it 
has  !"  We  marvel  that  he  was  not  afraid  to  add 
his  book  to  the  multiplied  causes  of  insanity  which 
he  deplores  ;  for  if  the  "  ahiise  of  Christianity"  be 
a  cause,  he  has  furnished  the  world  with  a  memo- 
rable example  of  that  '*  abuse,"  and  one  which, 
in  this  respect,  will  scarcely  find  a  parallel.  In- 
deed we  are  not  surprised  to  learn  from  the  Chris- 
tian Spectator,  that  the  volume  before  us  has 
already  produced  one  victim  of  insanity,  in  which 
this  disease  was  caused  by  reading  it.  Should  the 
author's  monomania  protect  himself  from  the 
baneful  influence  of  "  religion,"  and  restrain  him 
from  *'  night  meetings,"  he  may  escape  personally 
from  insanity,  notwithstanding  his  "  abuse  of 
Christianity."  For,  however  potent  his  "  abuse 
of  religion"  upon  the  credulous  victim  who  has 
become  insane  by  reading  it,  we  have  little  fear 
that  the  writer  of  this  "  abuse,"  believed  in  his  own 
theory,  and  because  we  desire  his  convalesence 
and  sanity,  we  ardently  hope  he  does  not. 

But,  in  justice  to  this  strange  and  incoherent 
inconsistency,  which  has  led  the  author  to  disclaim 
any  intention  to  assail  religion,  and  to  allege  the 
evils  he  deplores  only  against  its  "  abuse,"  we 
will  pause  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what 
are  the  ^'•abuses  of  religion"  in  his  estimation. 
And  first,  the  reader  may  observe,  that  **  all  reli- 


152  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

gious  rites  or  ceremonies,"  of  whatever  kind, 
are  examples  of  the  "  abuse  of  Christianity  ;"  for 
he  over  and  again  declares  that  "  Christ  estab- 
lished 710  ceremonies  at  all !"  Secondly,  the  doc- 
trine of  Divine  influence  is  another  "  abuse  ;"  for 
he  positively  affirms  that  "  God  has  no  suj^ernatu- 
rat  dealings  with  men  /"  Thirdly,  all  public  assem- 
blies for  worship,  all  preaching  and  praying,  are 
instances  of  *'  abuse,"  and  ought  to  be  abandoned, 
since  they  "excite  the  mind  and  agitate  the  body," 
and  besides  being  unscriptural,  are  "  very  iinrea- 
sonable  in  this  age,  when  information  07i  all  subjects 
can  be  obtained  by  reacting  P^  Not  only  should 
all  religious  meetings  be  abandoned,  but  Sunday 
schools  also,  for  they  are  another  "  abuse  ;"  and 
as  "  the  Sabbath  ought  to  be  a  day  of  rest  for  man 
and  beast,^^  it  is  not  only  an  abuse  to  "  assemble 
and  hear  sermons  all  day,"  but  it  is  almost  as  bad 
to  "  make  horses  work"  by  carrying  people  to 
church.  It  is  no  abuse,  he  says,  to  "  walk  or 
ride  or  visit  friends  on  Sunday,"  so  as  people  ab- 
stain from  hearing  sermons  on  that  day,  and  are 
scrupulous  not  to  ride  to  church.  It  is  true  the  Dr. 
consents  that  a  part  of  the  day  may  be  spent  in 
devotional  feelings,  *'  provided  they  are  not  car- 
ried to  an  unreasonable  extent."  The  "  extent" 
which  he  regards  as  not  unreasonable,  may  be 
estimated  by  what  we  have  presented  above,  in 
explanation  of  the  abuses  of  religion,  all  of  which 
are  of  course  "  unreasonable." 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  133 

A  long  extract  from  another  French  infidel,  on 
demonomania,  designed  to  sustain  his  accusation 
against  religion,  in  "  causing  alienation  of  mind," 
and  which  he  calls  an  "admirable  article,"  is  here 
presented,  and  may  be  taken  as  a  true  illustra- 
tion of  the  author's  real  sentiments,  although  to 
the  reader  is  committed  the  task  of  reconciling 
these  doctrines  of  M.  Esquirol,  which  he  fully 
adopts  as  his  own,  with  the  Doctor's  professions  of 
profound  respect  for  religion,  and  of  his  aiming 
only  to  correct  the  *'  abuses  of  Christianity." 

Among  other  flagrant  exhibitions  of  depravity 
and  infidelity,  we  are  here  taught  that  Christian- 
ity only  "consecrated  and  extended  the  opinion 
of  Plato  and  Socrates,  as  to  the  existence  of  spirits,'''' 
and  hence,  by  the  introduction  of  Christianity, 
"  demonomania  was  increased,''''  because  of  the  uni- 
versal terror  occasioned  by  the  fear  of  yielding  to 
the  instigations  of  the  devil,  and  the  exaggerated 
opinions  of  the  power  of  sjnrits  over  the  body  ;  and 
"  exorcising,"  a  practice  resorted  to  in  the  "primi- 
tive church  for  restoring  the  possessed  of  the 
devil,"  though  called  miraculous,  is  here  described 
as  a  vile  imposture  ;  and  these  observations  are 
evidently  designed  to  apply  to  the  cases  of  demo- 
niacs, who  were  healed  by  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles ;  and  all  such  "  miracles"  are  ascribed  to 
"  strongly  affecting  the  imagination."  How 
strange  that  the  "  mental  excitement"  thus  produ- 
ced, should  cure  the  possessed,  and  restore  the  iii- 

12 


134  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

snne^  when  such  maladies  are  cam&l  by  the  same 
excitement,  which  afterwards  becomes  their  cure. 
But  this  anomaly  is  all  explicable  by  the  Doctor's 
*'  philosophy  of  bumps." 

But  next  we  are  introduced  to  the  period  of  the 
Reformation  ;  and  Lutlicr  himself  is  charged  with 
having  "  revived  fanaticism,"  and  by  "  menacing 
damnation  eternal,"  having  *'  added  a  great  in- 
crease of  religious  melancholy.''''  Indeed,  Calvin  is 
here  said  to  have  increased  them  still  more.  *'  Eve- 
ry where  could  be  seen  the  excommunicated, 
the  damned,  and  the  ivitches.  The  people  of  course 
became  terrified.  Tribunals  were  erected  and 
the  devil  was  summoned  to  appear  in  a  court  of 
justice  !"  These  and  similar  disgusting  and  mis- 
chievous falsehoods,  are  endorsed  by  the  author  as 
sober  truth,  because  they  are  found  in  the  Dic- 
tionaire  de  Sciences  Medicale,  and  ascribed  to  M. 
Esquirol. 

The  object  for  which  this  extract  is  introduced, 
is  obviously  to  persuade  the  reader  into  the  belief 
that  "  demonomania,"  which  is  "  the  most  deplo- 
rable of  all  kinds  of  insanity,"  does  legitimateK'' 
result,  not  from  the  abuses  of  religion,  but  from 
Christianity  itself.  Hence  he  dates  the  increase 
of  this  malady,  from  the  period  of  the  "  introduc- 
tion of  Christianity,"  and  charges  it  upon  the 
*'  primitive  church,"  that  they  not  only  furnished 
examples,  but  held  "  solemn  festivals  to  cure  the 
possessed"  by  pretended  miracles.     Then  he  at- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  135 

tempts  to  implicate  the  doctrines  of  the  reforma- 
tion in  the  same  condemnation,  charging  upon 
Luther  and  Calvin  similar  enormities  ;  and  though 
he  professes  to  attribute  the  abandonment  of  a  be- 
lief in  demons  and  witches  to  Christianity,  yet 
he  records,  as  coeval  with  the  renunciation  of 
these  follies,  that  "  religion  lost  much  of  its  power 
and  influence  on  the  ideas  and  conduct  of  men." 
And  regarding  this  '^  power  and  influence"  as  ne- 
cessary to  "insure  the  docility  of  the  people,  and 
to  produce  obedience,"  he  sa3^s  the  government 
of  Europe  have  had  recourse  to  other  means  lor 
this  purpose.  And  in  this  connection,  he  places 
the  "  fear  of  the  police,  of  prisons,  and  of  punish- 
ments," as  being  analogous  to  the  terrors  of  reli- 
gious excitement,  and  thinks  it  probable  that  the 
hosj^itals  for  the  insane  will  soon  contain  the  vic- 
tims of  the  former  fears,  instead  of  the  latter ;  and 
this,  we  suppose,  is  on  the  hypothesis  that  rehgion 
is  to  be  "  abandoned,"  or  at  least  not  cultivated 
"  to  an  unreasonable  extent." 

And  here  the  author  introduces  his  own  testi- 
mony in  corroboration  of  "religious  excitement" 
producing  that  variety  of  cle?no7io?nania,  usually 
called  "  religious  melancholy,"  and  which,  he 
says,  "leads  to  suicides,  and  attempts  to  destroy 
themselves  and  their  kindred."  These  dreadful 
cases  are  produced,  we  are  told,  by  "  imagining 
that  they  have  committed  great  crimes,"  for  which 
"  they  must  go  to  hell,"  and  that  this  "  cruel  des- 


136  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

tiny"  is  unavoidable,  because  they  are  guilty  of 
"  the  unpardonable  sin,"  and  their  "  day  of  sal- 
vation is  passed."  All  these  *'  imaginary  terrors,'''* 
accompanying  this  form  of  insanity,  are  ascribed 
to  "  religion  and  religious  excitement,"  and  the 
author  has  "  the  particulars  of  above  ninety  cases 
of  suicide  from  religious  melancholy,  which  have 
occurred  in  six  of  the  northern  states,  within  the 
last  twenty  years,  and  most  of  them  within  a  very 
few  years ;  and  thirty  instances  in  which  the  un- 
happy sufferers  either  killed,  or  attempted  to  kill 
their  children,  or  dearest  relatives,  to  ensure  their 
future  happiness."  And  he  has  "  no  doubt,  that 
if  all  the  examples  of  insanity,  from  the  like 
cause,  could  be  known,  their  number  would  sur- 
prise and  grieve  the  friends  of  humanity,  as  did 
the  first  published  accounts  of  the  ravages  of  in- 
temi)erance !''''  Such  is  the  exaggerated  and  un- 
founded note  of  alarm  which  the  author  sounds, 
the  monstrous  extravagance  and  absurdity  of 
which,  will  prevent  the  salutary  effect  of  his  criti- 
cisms, even  when  they  are  directed  against  ac- 
knowledged evils.  That  there  are  appropriate 
examples  of  fanaticism  and  folly,  which  deserve 
the  censures  and  reproofs  which  are  here  so  indis- 
criminately bestowed,  is  every  where  known  ; 
but  to  charge  any  such  instance  upon  religion  as- 
its  cause,  is  not  only  absurd,  but  absolutely  im- 
pious. 

After  the   astonishing  hyperbole   of  language 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  137 

employed  by  the  author,  and  the  frightful  array  of 
false  facts,  which  have  been  imposed  upon  his 
creduhty,  until  his  morbid  imagination,  it  would 
seem,  has  been  prepared  to  believe  that  there  are 
five  hundred  thousand  insane  religionists  in  the 
countr}^,  and  thirty  thousand  annual  victims  of 
suicide  and  murder  from  this  form  of  demonoma- 
nia,  analagous  to  the  startling  statistics  of  the  "  ra- 
vages of  intemperance ;"  instead  of  being,  him- 
self, shocked  at  the  horrible  picture,  which  his 
fancy  has  sketched,  he  says,  with  prodigious  com- 
posure, that  the  reader  should  ^'' not  he  siirjmsed  at 
the  number  of  the  insane  heing  so  great,^^  but  he 
should  rather  be  amazed  "that  it  should  be  so 
SMALL !  !"  This,  he  thinks,  will  be  the  case,  if 
we  *'call  to  mind  the  immense  amount  of  machi- 
7ierij  in  operation  to  excite  the  minds  of  men, 
women  and  childrcn,^^  by  pi'eaching,  praying,  pro- 
tracted and  night  meetings,  ^^  sjmday  schools, ^^  Sec, 
thus  attributing  insanity  directly  to  these  and 
other  religious  means,  or  machinery,  and  not  to 
any  real  or  alleged  abuses.  We  have  seen  already 
that  every  distinguishing  pecuharity  of  Christi- 
anity or  revealed  religion,  is,  by  the  author  term- 
ed and  regarded  an  ahuse. 

Before  we  pursue  these  extracts  fartlier,  it  may 
be  proper  briefly  to  review  the  astounding  senti- 
ments which  tlie  author  here  avows,  as  well  as  the 
statements  of  fact  he  has  introduced.  Everybody 
knows  that  there  is  a  bodily  disorder,  from  which 
12* 


138  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

religious  men  are  not  exempt,  which  tends  to 
great  mental  distress,  and  ultimate  insanity.  Now 
it  is  no  more  a  fair  objection,  that  religion  should 
not  secure  any  one  against  this  affliction,  than  it 
would  be  to  allege  that  it  does  not  p7'eve7it  the  gout^ 
or  cure  the  consuminion.  It  would  be  a  sad  thing, 
indeed,  if  the  Almighty  made  it  a  rule  never  to 
convert  any  person  who  had  a  constitutional  or 
hereditary  tendency  to  derangement,  or  any  dis- 
order of  the  brain.  And  if  such  persons  embrace 
religion,  it  may  be  expected  that  their  minds, 
in  a  season  of  distraction,  will  run  upon  the  same 
subjects  which  previously  occupied  their  atten- 
tion ;  and  that  they  will  view  them  in  a  distorted 
manner,  just  as  others  in  a  similar  state,  view  the 
subjects  with  which  they  had  been  conversant. 
Cowper,  the  poet,  whose  case  is  often  referred  to 
by  infidels,  who  attribute  his  affliction  to  religion^ 
in  the  precise  spirit  of  our  author,  was  deranged 
long  hrfore  he  knew  any  thing  of  evangelical  reli- 
gion. He  owed  many  years  of  unspeakable 
comfort  to  the  consolations  of  the  gospel.  And 
when  he  suffered  a  relapse  of  his  ph3^sical  malad5% 
his  distress  was  occasioned  not  hy  religion^  but  by 
a  false  idea,  which  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
gospel,  and  one  which  he  adopted  only  because  of 
the  paroxysm  of  insanity  from  which  he  suffered 
this  relapse  in  his  latter  years. 

Now  if  we  had  before  us  the   ^^  ninctn  cases  of 
suicide,  from  religious  melancholy,"    which  the 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  139 

author  seems  to  present  with  exultation,  and  the 
particulars  of  which  he  boasts  of  having  obtained 
from  within  six  of  the  northern  states,  during  the 
last  twenty  years,  we  should  probably  be  able  to 
interpret  many  of  them  by  this  key,  and  so  far  as 
any  of  them,  were  justly  chargeable  upon 
mental  or  physical  excitement  of  any  kind,  it 
would  be  found,  that  no  evidence  could  be  addu- 
ced, at  all  calculated  to  prove  that  religion,  or 
even  what  the  author  calls  the  "  abuses"  of  reli- 
gion, had  the  least  agency  in  their  causation. 
The  world  has  been  too  long  imposed  upon  by 
false  philosophy,  and  by  a  false  nomenclature, 
which,  on  this  very  subject  has  inculcated  a  belief 
in  perverted  and  distorted  facts,  which  it  is  full 
time  were  exploded.  The  author,  if  he  had  not  him- 
self become  a  victim  of  these  popular  delusions, 
would  have  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity, 
which  his  subject  furnished  him,  of  enlightening 
his  readers  in  relation  to  the  impostures  alluded 
to.  He  does,  indeed,  explode  the  notion  which 
implies  that  the  mind,  the  soul,  the  immaterial 
part  of  man,  is  the  seat  of  insanity,  an  opinion 
which  has  been  imposed  upon  the  pubUc  by  phy- 
sicians who  have  written  learnedly  upon  "  dis- 
eases of  the  mind,^^  By  a  similar  misnomer,  many 
medical  authors,  and  Dr.  Brigham  among  others, 
introduce  the  term,  "  religious  melancholy,  or 
mania,"  and  the  latter  defines  this  term  in  his 
book,  in  accordance  with  this  false  nomenclature. 


140  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

It  is  a  remnant  of  the  dark  ages  which  barbarism 
invented,  which  nominal  Christians  have  per- 
petuated, and  which  Dr.  B.  would  render  eternal. 
Indeed,  the  ancient  term  w^as  far  less  exception- 
able, than,  as  it  has  since  been  modernized.  The 
disease  was  called  by  Hippocrates  and  Cclsus, 
*'  mania  religiosorum,"  literally,  "  the  insanity  of 
religious  people,"  by  which  they  and  the  ancients 
meant  no  more  than  to  designate  the  form  in  which 
the  disease  of  insanity  was  developed,  in  those 
persons  who  had  previousl}'  been  devotional  and 
pious.  They  had  not  then  learned  the  refinements 
of  phrenology,  nor  "the  science  of  bumps,"  else 
the}^,  too,  might  have  discovered  upon  the  top  of 
the  head,  a  protuberance  greatly  developed, 
'yclept,  the  "  organ  of  veneration,"*  or,  "  the  re- 


*  This  "  organ  of  veneration,"  as  Dr.  Sjsurzlieirn  tlenomiriatcs 
it,  was  called  by  Dr.  Gall  the  "organ  of  thcosophy ;^^  and  is  the; 
same  which  Dr  Brigham  calls  "the  religious  sentiment."  To 
prove  tiiat  the  latter  has  not  misrepresented  his  great  master;?  in 
the  "science,"  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  work  of  Dr.  Gall, 
where  he  will  find,  that  "  a  prominence  on  the  median  line,  occu- 
pying the  summit  of  the  head,  is  the  organic  and  innate  source  of 
ALT,  BELIEF !"  And  Dr.  Sprurzhelm  teaches,  that  another  organ, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  former,  which  he  denominates  '^mar- 
re//£>?/5/iess,"  contributes  to  "  strengthen  our /«ii/j  and  fortify  our 
hcUefy  And  all  these  great  men  concur  in  maintaining,  that  "it 
would  be  as  unjust  to  accuse  those  endowed  with  these  organs, 
with  imposture,  as  it  would  be  to  censure  ^^ocfs,  who  are  impelled 
by  the  organ  of"  ideality,''^  for  embodying  and  porsonitying  their 
ideas."  For  "we  have  the  idea  of  a  Supreme  Being,  because  wc 
have  an  organ  fitted  for  such  a  purpose,  and  without  an  orgcn  of 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  141 

ligious  sentiment,"  and,  in  such  case,  they  would 
have  changed  the  name  of  the  disease  to  "  mania 
religiosa,^^  instead  of  "  religiosorum,''^  and  thus,  by 
using  the  adjective  instead  of  the  plural  noun, 
they  would  have  taught  the  medical  heresy  of  the 
author,  and  conformed  to  modern  public  senti- 
ment, for  the  existence  of  which  this  misnomer  is 
responsible.  Thus,  in  physics  as  in  morals,  error 
has  been  perpetuated  by  fallacious  names  and 
technicalities. 

By  the  term  "religious  melancholy,"  as  now 
employed  by  the  intelligent  and  candid  among 
the  profession,  we  design  only  to  designate  a  case 
of  insanity  more  or  less  severe,  in  which  the  pa- 
tient is  either  a  monomaniac^  and  irrational  on  no 
other  subject  except  that  of  religion ;  or,  that  the 
mind  is  prone  to  run  upon  this  subject,  to  the  par- 
tial or  entire  exclusion  of  every  other.  Such 
cases  are  found  in  almost  every  asylum  for  the 
insane,  and  are  very  rarely  incurable.  Indeed, 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  no  such  case  is 
hopeless,  unless  it  be  hereditary,  and  even  such 
constitutional  insanity,  as  only  assumes  the  mild 
form  of  "  religious  melancholy,"  is  usually  period- 
ical in  the  return  of  its  paroxysms,  and  has  lucid 
intervals  of  longer  or  shorter  duration,  sometimes 


theosophy  we  could  have  had  no  communication  with  the  Supreme 
Being,  nor  should  we  have  had  any  conception  of  his  power  and 
attributes." 


142  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

consisting  of  a  number  of  years,  without  a  single 
symptom  of  its  return. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that,  in  these 
examples  of  *'  religious  mania,"  either  *'  religion" 
or  "  religious  excitement"  is  universally,  or  even 
ordinarily,  the  ostensible  cause  of  the  malady,  as 
its  name  would  seem  to  indicate.  So  far  from 
this  being  the  fact,  it  is  known  to  every  practi- 
tioner whose  education  or  experience  qualify  him 
to  judge  in  the  case,  that  these  cases,  denominated 
religious  mania,  exist  in  irreligious,  and  even  pro- 
fanely wicked  men,  and  are  very  often  produced 
by  heasthj  intemperance.  We  have  known  many 
examples  in  which  habits  of  drunkenness  have 
resulted  in  this  form  of  insanity,  and  the  patients 
would  pray  and  sing  psalms,  exhort  all  those  who 
visited  them  with  great  solemnity,  and  employ 
their  solitude  in  preaching  to  the  congregations  of 
sinners,  with  whom  their  imaginations  would  fill 
the  cells,  to  which  necessity  and  humanity  had 
confined  them.  We  have  witnessed  such  in- 
stances in  individuals  who  had  never  paid  any 
attention  to  religious  meetings,  or  subjects  of  that 
nature,  and  yet,  though  known  to  be  suffering  from 
the  direct  fruits  of  intoxication,  such  persons  were 
said  to  be  religious  maniacs  ;  and  when  suicide 
resulted,  this  act  was  ascribed  to  religion  as  its 
cause,  for  no  other  reason  than  this  was  the  sub- 
ject of  their  ravings. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  other  causes,  whether 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  143 

physical  or  mental,  resulting  in  this  disease  ;  and 
nothing  but  blind  infatuation  could  have  led  the 
author  to  the  attempt  he  has  made  to  identify  all 
cases  of  religious  mania,  as  being  the  result  of 
'*  reliajious  excitement."  The  fact  is  often  direct- 
ly  the  reverse  ;  for  in  those  instances  in  which 
persons  have  become  insane  while  in  a  high  state 
of  religious  excitement,  and  their  hereditary  pre- 
disposition has  been  developed  by  this  cause,  it  is 
often  the  case,  that,  instead  of  devotional  exer- 
cises, they  employ  themselves  in  all  manner  of 
profane  and  obscene  discourse,  making  no  allusion 
whatever  to  serious  things  ;  and  yet  these  too,  may 
he,  and  often  are  reported  as  cases  of  religious 
mania,  by  friends  who  conceal  their  constitutional 
predisposition,  and  ascribe  the  paroxysm  to  the 
subject  which  occupied  their  minds,  immediately 
previous  to  the  attack. 

There  would  be  just  as  much  truth  and  philo- 
sophy in  the  application  of  the  term  lunatics,  to 
those  suffering  from  insanity  in  general,  as  to  em- 
ploy the  phrase  religious  mania  in  relation  to  a 
single  class  among  the  insane.  And  the  author 
would  not  have  been  more  unprofitably  or  dishon- 
orably employed,  had  he  gotten  up  another  moon- 
story  and  given  us  a  learned  dissertation  upon 
"  the  influence  of  the  moon  upon  the  health  and 
physical  welfare  of  mankind."  This  may  appro- 
priately enough,  be  the  title  of  another  in  the  se- 
ries of  volumes   he  has  commenced.      All  tlie 


144  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

moon-Struck  individuals  in  the  community  will 
furnish  him  with  examples  and  illustrations  in 
proof  of  lunacy;  and  the  case  books  of  the  insane 
institutions  are  filled  with  instances,  all  of  which 
he  may  charge  upon  the  "  influence  of  the  moon^'* 
with  a  much  greater  show  of  authorities,  philoso- 
phy, plausibility,  and  truth  ;  for  the  teims  ^^luna- 
tic'^  and  ^^  religious  maniac'''  are  both  entitled  to 
equal  authority,  as  indicating  the  nature  and  cause 
of  the  malady,  in  the  individuals  to  whom  these 
names  are  applied.  In  the  one  case,  the  disease 
may  be  as  justly  ascribed  to  the  "  influence  of  the 
moon,"  as  in  the  other,  to  the  "  influence  of  reli- 
gion;" because  both  terms  belong  to  the  vocabu- 
lary of  ignorance  and  superstition,  which  the  im- 
provement of  mankind,  and  the  lights  of  science, 
have  rendered  obsolete. 

These  remarks  will  serve  to  show,  the  utter 
futility  of  any  judgment  formed  of  the  causes  of 
insanity,  either  by  the  name  assigned  to  it,  or  the 
circumstances  of  the  patient  at  the  time  of  its 
commencement,  or  by  the  peculiar  topics  on  which 
the  mind  appears  to  run  in  its  incoherent  ravings, 
after  the  disease  has  appeared.  The  truth  is, 
there  can  be  very  little  dependence  placed  on  the 
reports  of  insane  hospitals,  withbowever  much  of 
care  and  integrity  they  are  prepared,  by  the  ofii- 
cers  of  such  institutions,  especially  in  relation  to 
the  cmiscs  of  the  disease.  The  friends  of  the  pa- 
tient usually  attribute  the  disease  to  the  proximate 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  145 

cause  most  apparent  at  the  time  of  their  first  dis- 
covering unequivocal  marks  of  derangement ;  and 
they  will  often  ascribe  the  attack  to  a  number  of 
causes,  not  only  different,  but  even  opposite  in 
their  nature ;  and  these  are  often  wholly  imaginary 
as  events  prove.     At  other  times,  they  will  con- 
ceal the  real  cause,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  disre- 
putable, as  when  the  result  of  some  odious  vice. 
And  it  is  incredible  to  what  a  multitude  of  expe- 
dients a  whole  family  will  resort,  for  the  purpose 
of  preventing  the   suspicion  of  there  being  any 
hereditary  tendency   to  the  disease ;  sometimes 
because  of  the  injury  it  will  inflict  upon  other 
members  of  the  family ;  and  often,  because  of  the 
fear  that  the  case  will  then  be  considered  hope- 
less.     It  is  obvious,  from  these  considerations, 
that  the  "  ninety  examples  of  suicide  from  reli- 
gious melancholy,"  which  the  author  so  vaunting- 
ly  records  in  confirmation  of  his  views,  must  be 
regarded  as  very  equivocal  evidence  at  best,  be- 
cause of  the  ambiguity  and  dubiousness  which 
pertain  to  all  investigations  into  the  etiology  of 
every  form  of  insanity. 

While  alluding  to  this  subject  of  insanity,  we 
again  recal  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  the  dogma 
of  the  author,  that  insanity  is  the  result  of  the  in- 
creased "  action  of  the  brain  ;"  and  we  do  so  be- 
cause his  theory  and  hlo  book  are  both  buih  upon 
this  -'vanity  of  vaniues."  Indeed,  his  former 
work  on  "the  influence  of  mental  excitement  upon 


146  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

health,"  has  the  same  "  sandy  foundation,"  though 
it  has  been  lauded  to  the  skies,  by  men  who  on 
other  subjects  exhibit  some  share  of  intellect  and 
judgment.  We  pause,  then,  to  enquire  what  con- 
ceivable "  action"  the  brain  is  supposed  to  per- 
form ?  Does  the  brain  thinks  and  is  it  the  increas- 
ed thinking  produced  by  religious  excitement, 
which  tends  to  insanity  and  developes  alterations 
in  its  structure  ?  Surely  the  author  forgets  that  he 
calls  the  brain  the  ^^  organ  o?i  ivhich  the  mind  acts  f^ 
and  uninitiated  readers  have  always  supposed 
that  it  is  the  mind  which  thinks,  and  that  thinking 
is  one  of  the  actions  of  the  mind,  which  is  conveyed 
through  its  organ,  the  brain,  by  means  of  the 
nerves,  to  the  limbs  and  other  portions  of  the 
body.  He  will  scarcely  allege,  after  this  conces- 
sion, that  the  brain  thinks  ;  for  this  would  be  un- 
sophisticated materialism,  which  he  and  his  bro- 
ther phrenologists  indignantly  disclaim.  We  ask 
then,  in  the  name  of  any  species  of  reason  or 
sense,  what  kind  of  action  is  that  of  the  brain  ? 
Does  the  hrain  see,  hear,  taste,  smell,  or  feel  ?  or 
is  it  only  the  organ  by  which  the  mind  performs 
the  act  of  seeing,  hearing,  tasting,  smelling,  and 
feeling,  through  the  organs  or  sub-organs  adapted 
to  these  several  functions?  According  to  the 
doctrine  here  inculcated,  the  sights  and  sounds 
accompanying  a  "  protracted  meeting,"  or  a  "  re- 
vival of  religion,"  produce  increased  action  of 
6ome  kmd  on  the  part  of  the  brain,  and  this  ex- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  147 

cessive  action  results  from  mental  excitement  of 
any  kind,  and  especially  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
And  yet,  he  does  not  enlighten  us  in  relation  to 
the  nature  of  this  imaginary  action,  which,  if  his 
own  brain  had  been  acting,  he  would  have  felt  to 
be  his  imperious  duty,  in  discussing  so  grave  and 
important  a  subject  as  the  nature  and  causation 
of  insanity. 

The  truth  appears  to  be  this,  that  in  all  the  ex- 
amples of  insanity  there  are  'physical  causes  which 
dissection  demonstrates  amply  sufficient  to  ac- 
count for  the  malady;  and  these  causes,  as  we  are 
here  taught,  are  uniformly  found  in  the  brain. 
And  as  we  have  shown  that  to  suppose  any  action 
of  the  brain,  is  to  admit  a  physical  impossibility 
and  a  metaphysical  absurdity,  it  is  scarcely  need- 
ful to  add,  that  this  theory  assigns  "  more  causes 
than  are  necessary  for  the  effect,"  which,  accord- 
ing to  any  species  of  logic,  is  irrational ;  and  that 
phrenology  has  led  the  author  to  do  so,  is  a  stri- 
king evidence  of  the  tendency  of  the  system,  and 
demonstrates  its  fallacy. 

That  great  mental  excitement  is  particularly 
dangerous  to  females,  and  especially  to  mothers, 
during  the  season  of  their  solicitude  and  lactation, 
has  been  long  known  ;  and,  though  the  author  de- 
votes a  section  to  this  subject  and  that  of  the  con- 
sequences upon  their  infant  offspring,  yet  he  says 
nothing  new  in  relation  to  it,  nor  does  he  furnish 
any  evidence  that  religion  is  accessory  to  such 


148  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

mischiefs  in  any  of  the  examples  he  relates.  It 
is  true,  he  charges  the  "  great  jugglers  of  church 
and  state,"  among  whom  he  includes  the  minis- 
ters of  religion,  with  availing  themselves  of  the 
*'  highly  excitable"  susceptibilities  of  the  female 
constitution ;  and,  in  the  language  of  another,  he 
alleges  that  "  women  are  the  chosen  vessels  for  en- 
thusiasm, and  the  most  apparent  subjects  of  delu- 
sion." Yet  all  this  is  mere  rant  and  rhodomon- 
lade,  while  unaccompanied  by  any  well  attested 
facts,  in  confirmation  of  his  accusations. 

It  would  have  better  become  a  philosopher  such 
as  our  author,  to  have  set  himself  soberly  to  in- 
vestigate the  examples  of  "  religious  mania"  upon 
which  he  dwells,  in  the  light  of  facts,  some  of 
which  he  records,  and  others  which  the  patholo- 
gical authorities  he  quotes,  concur  in  testifying. 
The  public  have  need  of  instruction  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  he  might  have  performed  an  invaluable 
service  to  the  cause  of  truth,  had  he  disabused 
his  fellow  men  of  the  impostures  they  have  suf- 
fered, because  ignorant  of  these  facts.  Instead, 
however,  of  employing  his  pen  in  explaining  and 
illustrating  the  intricacies  of  the  subject,  he  has 
thrown  his  whole  energies  into  the  scale  of  popu- 
lar delusion  ;  and  his  book  will  serve  to  create  and 
aggravate  unfounded  and  superstitious  fears, 
which  both  science  and  humanity  should  have 
prompted  him  to  allay. 

The  facts  which  he  has  himself  collected  and 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRiaHAM.  149 

recorded,  are  of  themselves  amply  sufficient  to 
refute  his  whole  theory.  For  example,  after  enu- 
merating, "thickening  of  the  skull,"  "organic 
alterations,"  and  "changes  of  structure,"  as  al- 
ways found  "  in  the  heads  of  insane  people,"  he 
adds,  that  "  the  brain,  the  material  organ  of  the 
mind,  must  become  diseased,  before  the  manifes- 
tations of  the  mind  can  be  pronounced  deranged !" 
What  has  become  of  his  phrenological  "increased 
action  of  the  brain  ?"  Does  he  mean  to  insinuate 
that  this  action  "thickens  the  skull .^"  If  phre- 
nology be  true,  in  whole  or  in  part,  then  this  ac- 
tion would  thin  the  skull ;  for  the  action  of  any  one 
of  the  organs  when  cultivated,  is  developed  by 
wearing  awa,y  the  skull  or  its  inner  table,  since 
there  must  be  a  correspondent  cavity  beneath  each 
of  the  "  bumps"  or  developments,  else  the  exte- 
rior convexity  can  be  no  index  of  the  size  of  the 
"  organ."  But  waiving  this  tangible  and  irre- 
fragable difficulty,  we  enquire  again,  does  the 
"  action  of  the  brain,"  produced  by  "  religious 
excitement,"  create  the  "changes  of  structure," 
and  "organic  alterations,"  which  are  "always 
found  in  the  heads  of  insane  people  ?"  Or  are 
these  diseased  "  changes  of  structure"  necessary, 
before  "  religious"  or  any  other  "  mental  excite- 
ment," can  produce  insanity?  These  are  ques- 
tions one  would  think  worthy  of  solution  by  this 
astute  philosopher.  He  would  find,  however,  that 
they  would  place  him  and  his  theory  in  an  awk^* 
13* 


150  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

ward  dilemma,  since  they  change  the  order  of  pri- 
ority in  cause  and  effect.  If  he  attribute  those 
changes  directly  to  the  "  action  of  the  brain,"  he 
conflicts  with  his  own  doctrine;  for,  on  page  296, 
he  maintains  that  this  "  action"  only  "predispo- 
ses" to  insanity,  and  the  disease  may  be  after- 
wards or  finally  developed  by  "  ill  health"  or 
other  causes ;  and  if  he  choose  the  other  horn,  and 
admit  that  these  organic  affections  exist  prior  to 
the  religious  excitement  and  consequent  action  of 
the  brain,  then  he  must  admit,  not  only  that  the 
individuals  who  become  victims  to  the  disease 
are  physically  predisposed  to  it,  but  that  these 
organic  and  structural  diseases  are  insufficient  to 
develope  insanity,  without  religious  or  mental  ex- 
citement, which  is  at  utter  variance  with  his  own 
book,  and  all  his  authorities. 

If  we  were  at  liberty  to  pursue  this  subject,  and 
the  limits  we  have  prescribed  to  ourselves  in  this 
review  did  not  forbid  any  considerable  amplifica- 
tion, we  might  readily  demonstrate  what  at  pre- 
sent we  can  only  glance  at,  both  in  relation  to  the 
inconsistencies  and  palpable  contradictions  of  our 
author,  and  also  in  reference  to  the  facts  and  ad- 
missions contained  in  his  own  book,  from  which 
the  true  theory  of  insanity  may  be  deduced.  It 
may  be  in  place,  briefly  to  remark,  that  as  the 
brain  is  the  material  organ  of  the  mind,  and  is  in- 
variably diseased  in  its  structure,  and  must  be  so 
before  any  form  of  insanity  can  exist,  it  is  plain 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  151 

that  the  essence  of  the  disease  consists  in  some 
organic  affection  of  the  brain,  even  when,  as  in 
many  cases,  we  may  be  unable  to  discover  the  na- 
ture of  the  structural  alteration  by  dissection  it- 
self Whenever  insanity  appears  then,  in  any 
instance,  whatever  may  seem  to  have  produced 
it,  whether  physical  or  mental  in  its  character, 
there  is  in  the  brain  of  the  individual  the  seat  or 
proximate  cause  of  the  disease.  From  these  pre- 
mises, distinctly  admitted  by  the  author,  it  follows 
that,  before  we  can  legitimately  infer  that  "  reli- 
gion" or  "  religious  excitement"  has  occasioned 
insanity,  much  less  affirm  that  it  is  "  one  of  the 
most  fruitful  sources  of  this  disease,"  we  must 
prove,  or  at  least  render  it  probable,  that  such  ex- 
citement will  produce  "  organic  alterations,"  or 
"changes  of  structure,"  or  "thickening  of  the 
skull;"  for  these  are  "  always  found  in  the  heads 
of  insane  people."  We  need  not  say,  that  the 
author  has  utterly  failed  to  furnish  a  single  exam- 
ple, even  with  the  aid  of  his  visionary  fable  of 
the  "  action  of  the  brain,"  in  which  there  is  the 
least  semblance  of  evidence  that  religious  excite- 
ment created  these  physical  derangements  in  the 
structure  of  the  brain.  So  far  from  having  made 
this  appear,  he  seems  so  conscious  of  the  absence 
of  all  proof  that  religious  excitement  has  evei 
occasioned  insanity,  though  he  has  over  and  again 
asserted  it,  that  he  says  "it  produces  a  tendency  to 
insanity,    which   other   causes    may   finally   de- 


1-52  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

vclope."  And  hence,  he  argues  that  even  when 
rehgious  excitement  does  not  produce  insanity, 
yet  it  creates  a  "predisposition"  to  it ;  and  the  in- 
dividuals, although  they  afterwards  become  in- 
sane, obviously  from  other  causes,  yet  this  resul 
would  not  have  taken  place,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  "previous  excitement."  And  even  if  they 
never  give  any  symptom  of  insanity,  yet  still,  he  con- 
tends, that  a  "  still  greater  evil  is  to  be  feared  in 
the  effect  which  the  excitement  will  have  upon  a 
succeeding  generation,  the  offspring  of  excited  and 
nervous  pa,rents."  The  ingenuity  of  this  alarm- 
ist, in  his  zeal  to  make  out  his  case  against  reli- 
gion, by  first  contending  that  it  makes  people  in- 
sane, and  next  that  at  least  it  prepares  them  to  be- 
come so  from  other  causes, and  then  alleging  that  at 
any  rate,  if  they  will  not  become  victims  of  insanity, 
their  children  or  grandchildren  will ;  is  conclusive 
evidence  that  he  designs  to  make  up  in  prophecy 
what  he  lacks  in  argument  and  facts. 

On  this  subject  there  is  not  only  extensive  popu- 
lar delusion,  but  the  profession  is  in  no  small  de- 
gree accountable  for  it ;  nor  indeed  are  physicians 
themselves  altogether  free  from  confused  and  un- 
philosophical  opinions.  For  example,  we  hear 
and  read  perpetual  eulogies  on  what  is  called  the 
moral  treatment  of  insane  persons,  in  contradis- 
tinction from  the  physical,  which  implies  that  in- 
sanity is  a  mental  disease,  and  not  a  physical  one, 
hence  the  appropriateness  of  moral  means.     Ex- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  153 

perience  and  observation,  however,  are  continually 
adding  a  multitude  of  facts,  which  abundantly 
prove  that  no  moral  means  are  useful,  unless  they 
produce  3.  phijsical  effect.  Hence,  solitude  is  often 
the  most  successful  moral  remedy,  because  it  ab- 
stracts the  association  of  ideas  which  company,  of 
any  kind,  occasions.  The  activity  of  the  mind  is 
often  greater,  in  proportion  as  the  organ  on  which 
it  acts  is  enfeebled  and  impaired  by  the  malady. 
Hence,  when  solitude  alone  fails  to  calm  the  per- 
turbed and  incoherent  ravings  of  a  maniac,  other 
moral  means  are  used,  such  as  clarhiess  and  silence, 
by  which  light  and  sound,  those  potent  stimuli  of 
thought,  are  withdrawn.  The  morbid  sensitive- 
ness of  the  visual  and  auditory  organs,  consequent 
upon  the  diseased  condition  of  the  brain,  fre- 
quently render  it  necessary  to  superadd  profound 
silence  and  darkness  to  solitude,  in  order  to  tran- 
quilize  the  system,  and  this  effect  is  produced  by 
the  physical  operation  of  these  moral  means. 
Occasionally,  however,  it  becomes  requisite  to 
confine  the  limbs,  when  motion  alone  proves  a 
stimulant  to  the  action  of  the  mind;  and,  in  addi- 
tion to  all  these  means,  starvation,  another  physi- 
cal measure,  must  occasionally  be  resorted  to, 
since  it  is  found  that  the  act  of  taking  food  excites 
both  mind  and  body,  apart  from  the  processes  of 
digestion  and  assimilation,  which  are  often  incom- 
patible with  convalescence  in  such  cases.  All 
such  means  as  we  have  named,  are  curative  in 


154  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

their  tendency,  by  their  withdrawing  all  the  stim- 
uli of  mental  action  ;  and  that  this  is  the  rational 
and  philosophical  indication  is  apparent,  when  we 
consider  that  the  brain  is  the  seat  of  the  disease, 
and  this  "organ  on  which  the  mind  acts"  being 
feeble  and  sick,  it  is  necessary  to  suspend  the  use 
or  employment  of  this  organ  as  far  as  possible. 
And  as  any  use  of  a  defective  or  broken  instru- 
ment of  music,  is  calculated  to  increase  the  mis- 
chief, and  prevent  the  possibility  of  its  being  re- 
paired, so  it  is  desirable  in  all  cases  of  recent  in- 
sanity, that  the  mind  be  kept  in  a  state  of 
quiescence,  since  it  cannot  act  without  using  a 
suffering  or  injured  organ  ;  and  all  action  upon  an 
instrument  in  this  condition,  must  not  onl}^  be 
irregular  and  incoherent,  but  it  must  necessarily 
increase  the  difficult}^  of  cure.  It  is  for  want  of 
giving  the  brain  the  rest  which  is  required,  that 
recent  cases  of  insanity  are  so  often  rendered  per- 
manent and  hopeless,  a  result  which  is  often  the 
consequence  of  company,  or  employment,  or  re- 
creation. 

While  the  mind  is  acting  on  a  diseased  brain, 
how  can  this  organ  be  expected  to  yield  to  any  cu- 
rative treatment,  whether  physical  or  moral. 
Would  a  diseased  or  inflamed  eye  ever  recover,  if 
it  were  constantly  employed  for  the  purposes  of 
vision?  Or  could  a  serious  injury  of  the  knee 
joint  be  successfully  treated,  while  the  limb  was 
constantly  disturbed  by  forced  attempts  at  walk' 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  155 

ing  ?  It  would  be  as  rational  and  philosophical 
to  treat  an  inflamed  eye,  or  a  diseased  joint  thus, 
as  it  is  to  hope  for  the  recovery  of  insane  persons, 
by  requiring  or  allowing  them  either  to  read,  to 
sew,  to  work,  to  walk,  to  ride,  or  to  engage  in  any 
avocation,  employment  or  amusement,  which  im- 
poses action  upon  the  mind,  when  the  organ  on 
which  it  is  obliged  to  act,  is  impaired  in  its  integ- 
rity, or  disturbed  in  its  functions  by  disease.  Es- 
pecially is  company  of  any  kind,  much  more  that 
of  the  insane,  indiscreet  and  pernicious.  So  far 
from  this  prevalent  and  popular,  though  erroneous 
management  of  insane  persons,  being  judicious, 
it  ought  to  be  our  object  to  give  the  enfeebled  brain 
entire  rest,  so  far  as  we  can  effect  this  by  with- 
holding every  cause  calculated  to  excite  mental 
effort.  Hence,  solitude,  silence,  darkness,  absti- 
nence from  food,  and  the  prevention  of  all  motion 
of  the  body  or  limbs,  are  found  by  experiment  to 
be  the  most  successful  method  of  management, 
for  every  form  of  receMt  insanity.  After  conva- 
lescence commences,  then,  and  not  till  then,  can 
exercise,  or  recreation  of  any  kind,  be  salutary. 
In  all  old  cases,  which  have  acquired  a  character 
of  hopelessness,  the  indication  then  is,  to  make 
the  patient's  situation  as  comfortable  as  possible, 
by  imposing  few  privations,  and  none  but  such  as 
as  are  indispensable  for  safety. 

These  brief  hints,  touching  the  treatment  of  in- 
sanity, will  serve  to  show,  that  '*  the  action  of  the 


156  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

brain,"  of  which  the  author  speaks,  has  no  share 
in  the  causation  of  the  disease,  and  finds  no  sup- 
port from  the  philosophy  concerned  in  its  medical 
management ;  and  they  are  designed,  at  the  same 
time,  to  corroborate  the  testimon}^  ah-eady  before 
the  reader,  that  religion  is  not  among  the  causes 
of  insanity. 

If  we  have  succeeded  in  vindicating  religion  from 
the  alleo-ation  of  beino:  "  amons:  the  most  fruitful 
sources  of  insanity,"  it  is  a  duty  which  truth  de- 
mands, to  record  our  conviction  that  it  is  both 
preventive  and  curative  in  its  effects,  for  this  is 
its  legitimate  province  and  tendency,  as  abundant 
facts  most  conclusively  prove.  Not  that  it  will 
universally  prevent  an  attack,  nor  that  it  is  adapt- 
ed as  a  remedy  to  all  cases  and  stages  of  the  dis- 
ease, for  the  reader  cannot  so  understand  us  after 
we  have  so  explicitly  stated  essentially  different 
0]3inions.  But  we  maintain  that  the  calamities 
incident  to  mortality,  and  which  afflict  great  mul- 
titudes of  our  race  beyond  endurance,  and  by 
which  men  are  often  driven  to  insanity,  and  even 
impelled  to  suicide,  are  very  frequently  borne  with 
supernatural  patience,  and  sustained  with  super- 
human fortitude,  by  those  who  are  obviously  in- 
debted for  the  impunity  with  which  they  pass 
through  the  *'  furnace  of  affliction,"  to  the  sup- 
ports and  hopes  which  religion  inspires.  But  for 
this,  both  body  and  mind  would  sink  beneath  the 
intolerable  load  of  misfortune,  suffering  and  be- 


REVIEW  OF   DR.  BRIGHAM.  157 

reavement,  which  such  are  often  called  in  the  Pro- 
vidence of  God  to  endure.  In  such  examples, 
which  are  witnessed  in  almost  every  community, 
the  preventive  power  of  religion  is  exemplified, 
and  for  want  of  this  influence  others  become  vic- 
tims of  insanity  from  causes  inconceivably  less 
afflictive.  Besides,  how  many  there  are,  who, 
when  sufl^ering  a  wounded  spirit  from  worldly  in- 
fluences, such  as  disappointed  affection,  sudden 
bereavements  of  wealth  or  friends,  mortified  pride 
or  defeated  ambition,  have  stood  upon  the  preci- 
pice of  insanity,  and  desiring  death  in  the  error 
of  their  ways — multitudes  have  gone  so  far,  that 
they  have  chosen  the  fatal  weapon,  held  the  poison 
to  their  lips,  trembled  over  the  river's  brink,  or 
prepared  the  halter,  and  in  the  very  act  of  self- 
murder,  when  almost  consummated,  the  impulses 
of  religion  have  awakened  the  latent  energies  of 
the  desponding  heart,  and  darted  a  ray  of  light 
and  hope  athwart  the  soul,  even  when  driven  to 
desperation,  and  thus  restored  the  son  of  wretch- 
edness to  reason  and  to  life.  In  all  such  instan- 
ces, and  they  are  far  more  numerous  than  are  the 
victims  of  insanity,  from  every  cause,  religion 
has  prevented  insanity.  But  there  are  many  evi- 
dences, even  among  the  insane,  that  religious  con- 
solation has  proved  the  only  restorative  suflacient- 
ly  potent  to  win  the  despairing  back  to  hope,  to 
make  the  wounded  spirit  whole.  And,  accord- 
ingly, we  find  that  when  the  furious  maniac  is 
14 


158  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

tranquilized  by  appropriate  means,  and  moral  in- 
fluence is  indicated,  in  almost  all  the  asylums  and 
retreats,  such  patients  are  uniformly  benefited  by 
religious  services.  Reading  the  scriptures,  prayer 
and  even  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  convalescent 
from  insanity,  has  universally  proved  a  salutary 
cordial,  and  is  every  where  becoming  included 
amono:  the  arrano-ements  of  such  institutions. 
And  in  this  single  fact,  we  have  a  strong  collateral 
argument,  in  opposition  to  the  doctrines  of  Dr. 
Brigham's  book  ;  for  surely  religion  cannot  be  the 
cause  of  insanity,  and  yet,  as  we  have  seen,  prove 
itself  useful  and  potent,  both  for  jyrevcntion  and 
cure. 

Nevertheless,  it  may  be  conceded  in  perfect 
consistency,  that  *'  erroneous  opinions  in  rehgion" 
and  "  false  views  of  doctrine  and  duty,"  may  be 
cultivated  until  they  become  the  habit  of  the  mind, 
and  when  these  errors  are  of  an  inordinately  ex- 
citing or  depressing  character,  they  may  over- 
spread the  soul  with  imaginary  raptures,  or  over- 
whelm it  in  gloom  and  despondency  ;  and  thus,  a 
disease  of  the  brain,  may  be  superinduced,  which 
may  develope  insanity  in  constitutions  heredita- 
rily or  otherwise  predisposed  to  this  malady.  But 
in  the  name  of  reason  and  common  sense,  do  such 
examples  "  change  the  truth  of  God  into  a  lie,'^ 
and  involve  religion  in  the  charge  of  being  the 
source  of  the  disease.  Falsehood,  fanaticism, 
hypocrisy,  and  sin,  may  all  impel  men  to  insanity 
and  suicide,  and  have  often  doubtless  done  so. 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  159 

Thousands  have  fallen  victims  to  insanity  for  want 
of  religion,  and  from  causes  which  this  would 
have  rendered  harmless.  But  it  is  a  gross  and 
flagrant  impeachment  of  the  wisdom  cmd  benevo- 
lence of  the  Creator,  to  harbor  the  thought,  much 
more  to  hazard  the  assertion,  that  a  Religion  which 
He  has  instituted  by  the  display  of  all  the  attri- 
butes of  Deity,  and  the  exhibition  of  the  infinity 
of  His  perfections,  and  the  proclamation  of  His 
eternal  love,  should  be  the  source  of  the  most  ap- 
palling and  unutterable  calamity  on  this  side  of 
perdition.  And  yet  such  is  the  "  bad  eminence" 
to  which  Dr.  Brigham  has  aspired,  and  such  is  the 
legitimate  doctrine  of  which  he  has  become  the 
exclusive  proprietor.  If  such  be  ihe  fruits  ofphre- 
Qiology  upon  his  mind,  we  may  sentimentally  and 
most  heartily  adopt  the  exclamation  of  the  pro- 
phet, in  relation  to  the  whole  sect:  "My  soul! 
come  not  thou  into  their  secret,  to  their  assembly 
mine  honor  be  not  thou  united  !" 

We  come  now  to  the  section  containing  recom- 
mendations and  cautions  to  clergymen.  The 
author  begins  by  conceding  the  "  sincere  desire 
to  do  good,  to  the  clergy,  very  generally  ;"  but  he 
deplores  their  "  want  of  knowledge,"  especially 
of  human  physiology,  by  reason  of  which  lack, 
"  with  the  best  intentions,  they  have  often  done 
great  harm."  He  seems  to  regard  the  great  body 
of  the  clergy  of  the  country  as  *'  weak  brethren," 
well  meaning,  but  ignorant  men  ;  and  the  most 


160  REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

deplorable  deficiency  he  laments  is,  that  they  "do 
not  know"  that  when  they  strongly  excite  the 
feelings  of  their  hearers,  they  produce  a  terrible 
"action  of  the  brain,"  which  is  "  transmitted  to 
succeeding  generations!"  And  here  again,  he 
repeats  his  stupid  corollary,  that  "the  hrain  acts  as 
really  when  impressions  are  transmitted  to  it,  as 
the  stomach  does  when  aliments  are  received  into 
it."  We  have  already  shown  the  consum- 
mate folly  of  this  brainless  imp  of  phrenology. 

The  arguments  by  which  he  commends  the 
study  of  physiology  to  the  clergy  are,  that  they 
may  learn  how  to  "  improve  the  physical  organiza- 
tion of  the  heathen,  the  Indians,  and  the  dark-co- 
iored  races  of  men !"  He  encourages  them 
patiently  to  persevere  in  this  work ;  for  though 
little  can  be  done  in  one  generation,  or  one  cen- 
tury, yet  b}^  continuing  for  "  successive  generations*'' 
to  improve  and  strengthen  their  intellectual  and 
moral  faculties,  they  will  "  cause  an  improvement 
in  their  physical  organization,"  by  the  develojpement 
of  the  necessanj  humps,  and  these  will  be  transmit- 
ted to  posterity ! 

After  much  sage  counsel  of  similar  import,  in 
condescension  to  the  clergy,  he  "  advises,  recom- 
mends, and  refers"  them  to  a  number  of  books  on 
Anatomy,  Physiology,  Animal  Magnetism,  Insa- 
nity, and  the  sublime  and  celestial  science  of  Phre- 
nology, as  well  as  a  number  of  medical  periodi- 
cals, all  of  which,  taken  together,  he  seems  to 
think  will  make  them  "  wise  unto   salvation." 


■REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  161 

It  is,  indeed,  superlatively  ludicrous  to  witness 
the  amazing  pomp,  circumstance,  and  self  com- 
placency, with  which  this  venerable  young  doctor 
seats  himself  in  the  tripod,  assumes  the  mitre,  and 
announces  his  episcopal,  nay,  his  papal,  ghostly 
counsels,  as  though  ex  cathedra^  with  oracular 
anthority.  "J  advise  the  clergy;"  "i  recommend 
to  this  useful  class  of  men  ;"  "  I  have  long 
thought ;"  and  then,  in  the  exuberance  of  his  wis- 
dom and  benevolence,  instructing  the  clergy  of 
this  country,  as  to  the  subjects  and  books  they 
should  study,  and  reprimanding  them  for  the  de- 
ficiency of  their  libraries,  and  their  ignorance  of 
the  subjects  they  ought  to  know.  If  the  learned 
presidents  and  professors  of  theological  semina- 
ries do  not  exclaim  "a  second  Daniel's  come  to 
judgment,"  now  that  "  Sir  Oracle  opes  his  mouth," 
the  world  will  attribute  it  to  the  want  of  improve- 
ment in  their  "  physical  organization,"  by  which 
they  are  disqualified  for  the  reception  of  the  pure, 
and  spiritual,  and  phrenological  religion  of  the  il- 
lustrious Dr.  Brigham. 

We  come  now  to  the  concluding  chapter  of  this 
treasure  of  theological  lore,  the  profundity  of 
which  we  are  endeavoring  patiently  to  fathom. 
Having  already  noticed  in  another  place,  the  au- 
thor's opinions  in  relation  to  the  Sabbath,  we  pass 
to  the  section  on  the  importance  of  cultivating  de- 
votional feelings.  And  here  we  are  enlightened 
14* 


162  REVIEW  OF    DE..  BRIGHAM. 

by  the  information  that  the  *' religious  sentiment," 
so  "  naturally  disposes  man  in  all  ages  and  climes 
to  devotion,  that  he  universally  seeks  it,  and  is  be- 
nefited by  it,  when  the  forms  of  religious  wor- 
ship are  not  such  as  his  reason  reyels!''''  Hence, 
as  the  forms  in  which  Christianity  is  taught,  are 
made  by  "  the  priesthood  to  linger  behind  the  in- 
telligence of  the  times,"  it  is  for  this  reason  that 
people  forsake  religious  worship.  Of  course,  it 
follows  that  it  is  only  necessary  to  improve  the 
forms  in  which  religion  is  inculcated,  so  that  they 
may  not  be  repulsive  to  reason,  and  all  men  will 
be  naturally  disposed  to  be  religious. 

The  author  concedes  the  importance  of  reve- 
rence for  siqjerior  and  invisible  bei?igs,  because  the 
want  of  it  leads  to  a  disregard  of  civil  rulers  and 
all  other  authority  ;  and  hence,  admits  that  "a  de- 
cay of  the  national  religion  is  always  accompanied 
by  that  of  the  nation."  It  is  for  this  reason,  that 
he  benevolently  and  zealously  desires  that  in  this 
country,  "  the  political  feelings  should  never  be 
stronger  than  the  religious,"  which,  he  says,  is 
sometimes  the  case;  a  remarkable  thing  truly, 
when  he  maintains  that  the  "  religious"  is  the 
"  most  powerful  sentiment  of  our  nature,"  and  has 
"  more  influence  on  mankind  than  all  their  pas- 
sions combined."  SLill,  however,  he  tells  us  that 
the  "spirit  of  sect  yields  to  the  spirit  of  party" 
when  it  runs  high,  and  this  he  deplores  as  a  na- 
tional calamity.     He  thinks  "great  pains  should 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  163 

be  taken  to  cultivate  sentiments  of  veneration  for 
sacred  things^  for  truth,  honesty,  and  perfect  upright- 
ness.^^    These  are  the  "  sacred  three"  which  he 
seems  to  invest  with  the  attributes  of  Deity  ;  for 
he  says,  "  Men  should  be  taught  to  venerate  the 
virtues  inculcated  by  our  Savior — to  worship,  if  I 
may  so  express  myself,  truth,  love,  charity,  self  de- 
nial, &c.,  virtues  of  which  he  was  the  living  per- 
sonificatio7i  P^     And  it  will  serve  to  illustrate  the 
author's  meaning,  to  remind  the  reader  that  though 
he  commends  worshiping  these  virtues,  yet  he  whol- 
ly objects  to  the  worship  of  Christ;  and  argues 
against  the  Lord's  Supper,  on  page  130,  because 
that  ordinance  *'  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  worship  of 
Christ  himself;"  this  he  says,  "  the  Savior  never 
enjoined."  "  Christ  did  not  desire  that  men  should 
assemble  in  vast  numbers,  and  prostrate  them- 
selves before  him  and  chant  his  praise."     Espe- 
cially does  the  author  protest  against  "  holy  day 
keeping,  sermon  reading  or  hearing,  church  cere- 
monies and  long  prayers,  modern  sermonizing  and 
church  going."     These  are  the  forms  of  religion 
which  are  repulsive  to  reason,  and  behind  the  in- 
telligence of  the  times ;  and  yet  the  title  of  this 
section  is,  "  the  importance  of  cultivating  devo- 
tional feelings."     What  kind  of  devotional  feel- 
ings he  would  cultivate,  the  reader  will  be  puzzled 
to  know,  since  he  rejects  all  present  forms,  and 
prescribes  no  others. 

He  next  animadverts  upon  the  clergy  of  the  day, 


1G4  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

who,  m  masse,  he  represents  as  "  agitated  by  the 
puerile  and  exciting  topics  of  the  day."  This  he 
accounts  for,  by  their  temperament  and  disposi- 
tion phrenologically.  He  says  :  "  Preachers,  like 
other  men,  in  consequence  of  their  organization^ 
model,  ivithout  hiowing  it,  the  character  of  their 
Heavenly  Father  after  their  own  !"  The  reader 
will  be  struck  with  the  fact,  that  the  clergy  are 
here  represented  to  conceive  of  their  Maker  as  a 
Being  resembling  themselves  in  their  temperament 
and  disposition.  But  this  enormity,  it  is  stated, 
is  the  "  consequence  of  their  organization,"  and 
they  cannot  help  it.  Indeed,  so  far  from  their 
being  implicated  in  criminality  by  thus  misrepre- 
senting their  Heavenly  Father,these  well-meaning, 
good-intentioned  "  class  of  men,"  commit  this  sin 
"  without  knowing  it."  Indeed,  but  for  the  lights 
of  science,  which  the  "  philosophy  of  bumps"  re- 
flects upon  the  author's  mind,  "  in  consequence  of 
his  organization,"  even  he  "  would  not  know  it." 

"And  still  he  gazed — and  still  tJie  wonder  grew 
How  one  small  head  could  carry  all  he  knew  !" 

In  relation  to  the  "  denouncing  preachers,"  who 
are  here  denounced,  the  reader  will  agree  with 
us,  that  whoever  employs  '*  coarse  and  vulgar 
terms,"  "denunciatory  and  dogmatical  language 
in  tlieir  preaching,"  and  '*  mistakes  the  love  of  sec- 
tarianism for  that  of  Christianity,"  even  though, 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  165 

as  the  author  alleges,  they  belong  to  a  "great 
class,"  such  ministers  are  incapable  of  vindica- 
tion. That  the  author  has  drawn  largely  upon 
his  morbific  imagination  for  his  facts,  however,  is 
very  apparent ;  and  this  is  a  fault  which  is  doubt- 
less "  a  consequence  of  his  organization,"  and  he 
commits  it  perpetually,  like  the  preachers  of  whom 
he  speaks,  "  without  knowing  it." 

But  having  initiated  the  clergy  into  the  proper 
books  for  their  libraries,  and  given  them  his  sage 
counsels,  "cautions,"  and  admonitions,  he  now 
proposes  to  correct  the  mistakes  of  their  preach- 
ing, by  arguing  that  "  Christianity  is  yielding  to 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  has  become  jMosophi- 
caV^  He  shrewdly  reminds  them,  that  "hereto- 
fore it  has  been  dogmatical,  imperious,  and  immu- 
table,'''*  but  now,  simultaneously  with  the  appear- 
ance of  his  book,  we  suppose,  Christianity  like  all 
other  subjects,  must  submit  itself  to  discussion, 
analysis,  and  examination  ;  and  what  was  before 
immutable,  "  must,  like  all  other  subjects,"  become 
mutable,  and  change  with  the  spirit  of  the  age. 
Hence,  he  talks  not  only  of  "  philosophical  Chris- 
tianity," but  the  "  democratic  spirit  of  the  gos- 
pel," which,  though  a  spirit,  is  not  a  supernatural 
one ;  for  he  stoutly  maintains  that  "  God  has  no 
supernatural  dealings  with  men." 

Such  preachers  as  he  describes  to  be  under  the 
influence  of  this  "  democratic  spirit,"  make  the 
people  "yb?icZ  of  attending  church  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  the  love  and  habit  of  attending  is  acquired  ; 


166  REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

and  this  is  beneficial  to  health,  because  a  natural 
ivaiit,  the  love  of  devotion^  is  thus  gratified."  Here 
the  author  represents  the  love  of  church-going  to 
be  a  "  natural  want ;"  and  yet  he  objects  to  their 
"sermon  hearing  or  chanting  praises,"  or  wor- 
shipping any  Deity  but  truth,  charity,  and  self 
denial,  when  they  get  there.  Indeed,  as  he  repu- 
diates all  rites,  all  ceremonies,  all  forms,  all  psalm 
singing,  and  all  sermon  reading  or  hearing,  and 
indeed  all  preaching,  except  in  the  "  democratic 
spirit,"  we  can  hardly  conceive  what  kind  of  em- 
ployment would  occupy  the  time,  or  serve  to 
gratify  this  '*  natural  want,  the  love  of  devotion," 
on  the  part  of  those  who  should  become  *'  fond  of 
attending  church."  It  would  never  do  top-ay  to 
Christ,  for  this  would  be  to  worship  Him^  instead 
of  worshiping  the  virtues  of  which  he  was  only  the 
personification.  It  would  beside  "  excite  the  mind 
and  agitate  the  body,"  it  would  introduce  "forms 
and  ceremonies,"  which  are  all  unauthorized  and 
injurious  to  the  health.  And  as  for  expecting  any 
other  benefit  from  devotion,  than  gratifying  the 
natural  want  inspired  by  the  religious  sentiment, 
this  would  be  to  admit  what  the  author  regards 
as  a  most  mischievous  heresy,  that  "  God  has  any 
supernatural  dealings  with  men." 

And  yet,  the  author  professes  to  deprecate  the 
entire  neglect  of  devotion,  as  almost  as  injurious 
to  health  as  religion  itself,  even  as  it  is  understood 
and  practised  by  the  present  generation ;  and, 
therefore  it  is,  that  he  endeavors  to  enlighten  the 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  167 

reader  into  the  moderate  and  temperate  use  of 
religious  worship  and  devotional  feelings,  believ- 
ing that  these  things  are  "  beneficial  if  not  carried 
to  an  unreasonable  extent."  Whether  any  one 
can  learn  from  his  book,  what  kind  of  religion  or 
devotional  feelings  he  may  cultivate,  and  to  what 
extent,  without  their  becoming  unhealth}^,  is  a 
question  we  leave  to  others  for  solution.  For  our- 
selves, we  are  free  to  confess  our  fears  that  so  far 
as  the  author  obtains  the  public  confidence,  we 
believe  the  necessary  and  unavoidable  tendency 
of  his  book  will  be  to  create  a  contempt  for  reli- 
gion and  its  ordinances,  and  strengthen  the  hands 
of  infidelity  and  sin.  For,  if  the  sentiments  in- 
culcated in  this  volume  were  to  become  general 
or  universal,  the  very  name  of  religion  would  be- 
come s3'nonymous  with  infamy  and  reproach,  and 
the  Bible,  and  the  God  of  the  Bible  be  everywhere 
renounced. 

The  author  concludes  his  volume,  by  a  "  brief 
summary  of  some  of  the  opinions  he  has  endea- 
vored to  establish;"  and,  in  stating  these,  we  shall 
accompany  each  of  these  six  opinions  with  a  brief 
notice,  which  will  be  in  effect  a  summary  of  the 
contents  of  the  present  review.  The  following  is 
the  summary  of  Dr.  Brigham's  opinions  : 

"Firsr.  The  religious  sentiment  is  innate  in  man  ; 
"but  as  it  often  acts  blindly,  and  to  the  injury  of  man, 
"  it  needs  the  guidance  of  reason  and  knowledge. 

"  Secondly.  Christ  established  no  ceremonies  at  all ; 
"  he  exacted  virtuous  conduct,  not  the  observance  of 


168  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

"  rites.  The  reformation  of  Luther  abolished  some  of 
*'  the  ceremonies  that  liad  been  imj)roperly  ingrafted 
"  upon  Christianity,  but  not  all.  That  they  have  ever 
"  been  fruitful  sources  of  discord,  and  ought  to  be  re- 
"  linquishcd. 

"  Thirdly.  Mankind  are  not  at  present  under  any 
"  kind  of  miraculous  dispensation  ;  that  God  has  no  su- 
'* pernaiwal  dealings  with  men,  that  we  can  observe  ; 
"  and  does  not  now  impart  the  special  injluence  of  his 
**  Spirit  to  a  few  individuals  and  at  particular  times,  as 
"  is  claimed  by  modern  revivalists.  That  this  doctrine 
'*of  revivalists,  lies  at  the  foundation  of  religious  fana- 
"  ticism — is  not  essential  to  Christian  faith  or  conduct, 
"  and  if  enforced  by  preachers  and  believed  by  the 
**  people,  some  form  of  this  fanaticism  will  always  dis- 
"  turb  the  church  and  the  world. 

"Fourthly.  That  numerous  meetings  for  religious 
'*  purposes,  night  meetings,  camp  meetings,  protracted 
"meetings,  &c.,  injure  the  health — cause  insanity,  and 
"other  diseases,  and  ought  to  be  abandoned  as unscrip- 
"  tural,  and  very  unreasonable  in  this  age,  when  infor- 
"  mation  on  all  subjects  can  be  obtained  by  reading. 
"That  they  produce  and  perpetuate  great  excitement 
"  that  is  particularly  dangerous  to  females,  to  mothers, 
"  and  the  rising  generation. 

"  Fifthly.  The  Sabbath  is  a  day  of  rest  for  man  and 
"  beast,  and  ought  to  be  so  regarded  in  practice. 

"  Sixthly.  That  religious  worship  and  the  cultivation 
"  of  devotional  feelings  are  beneficial  to  man,  when  not 
"carried  to  an  unreasonable  extent."* 


*  As  a  celebrated  philosopher  observed,  "  La  devotion,  est  un  opium  pour 
I'ame,  cllc  cgare,  auimc,  soutieut  quand  on  en  prend  peu :  une  trop  fort  dose 
cndort,  ou  rend  furieux,  ou  tue." 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  169 

In  reply  to  his  first  proposition,  we  think  we 
have  shown,  that  whatever  may  be  affirmed  of 
the  phrenological  "  religious  sentiment,"  religion 
is  not  "  innate  in  man,"  and  that  so  far  from  being 
so,  it  is  an  effect  of  Divine  influence,  superindu- 
ced in  man  by  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
This,  therefore,  never  "  acts  blindly  and  to  the  in- 
jury of  man ;"  and  so  far  from  "  needing  the 
guidance  of  reason  and  knowledge,"  as  the  author 
contends,  true  religion  is  itself  the  guide  of  both 
reason  and  knowledge. 

•  To  his  second  opinion,  we  reply,  that  "baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper,"  though  ceremonies,  as  the 
Scriptures  prove,  "estabhshed  by  Christ,"  and 
^^ rites,  the  observance  of  which  he  enjoined,"  are 
not  the  only  "ceremonies  and  rites"  which  ha\e 
the  same  authority.  Public  and  private  prayer, 
watching,  fasting,  reading  the  Scriptures,  atten- 
dance upon  the  public  and  private  ordinances  of 
religion,  alms-giving,  preaching,  "  sermon  hear- 
ing," and  even  "protracted  meetings,"*  are  all 
rites  and  ceremonies,  the  observance  of  which 
were  enjoined  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  both 
by  precept  and  example.  It  is  not  true,  there- 
ibre,  that  Luther  abolished  any  of  the  ceremonies 
6f  Christianity  which  are  properly  such  ;  but  he 
restored  those  exclusively  which  Christ  had  estab- 

*  Witness  the   sermon   on  the  mount,   and   tlic    preaching  of 
Paul  from  marning  till  evening,  &c. 

15 


170  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

lished.  These  have  never  been  "  fruitful  sources 
of  discord,"  and  diough  their  relinquishment  is 
insisted  on  by  the  author,  it  is  only  because  of  the 
delusion  and  infatuation  under  which  he  has  had 
the  temerity  to  hazard  the  assertion,  in  the  face  of 
the  Bible,  that  "  Christ  established  no  ceremonies 
at  all!" 

In  relation  to  his  third  position,  we  maintain 
that  the  Christian  dispensation,  like  the  Mosaic, 
is  strictly  and  essentially  miraculous  in  its  origin, 
nature,  evidences,  privileges,  and  effects.  Was 
not  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  with  all 
the  phenomena  which  accompanied,  preceded, 
and  followed  that  stupendous  event,  truly  "  mi- 
raculous ?"  And  is  there  nothing  "  miraculous" 
in  the  events  recorded  by  the  Evangelists  and 
Apostles,  as  well  as  in  the  gift  and  preservation  of 
the  volume  of  inspiration  ?  And  are  not  the  pro- 
mises of  the  gospel,  as  fulfilled  and  fulfilling  in 
these  latter  days,  demonstrably  "miraculous?" 
How,  then,  does  the  author  presume  to  say  that 
"mankind  are  not  at  present  under  an}^  miracu- 
lous dispensation  ?"  He  can  onl}^  do  so,  either  by 
doujing  that  they  arc  at  present  under  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation,  or  by  maintaining  that  this  is 
not  "  miraculous;"  and  he  is  welcome  to  either 
horn  of  the  dilemma. 

But  he  goes  still  farther,  and  asserts  that  "  God 
has  710  supernatural  dealings  with  men,  that  tix  can 
observed  thus  denying  at  one  fell  swoop  the  im- 
portant and  scriptural  doctrine  of  Divine  Vvovl-    •/- 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  171 

deuce,  as  well  as  that  of  grace.  Are  not  the 
«'  deahngs"  of  the  Providence  of  God,  as  observ- 
ed in  the  history  of  nations  and  individuals,  evi- 
dently "  siiiiernaturalT''  If  they  are  not,  then  is 
the  world  governed  by  chance,  and  if  there  be  a 
God  at  all,  or  if  the  world  had  a  Creator,  as  the 
Father  of  all,  he  must  have  cast  off  the  universe 
he  has  made  into  an  eternal  orphanage,  and  the 
millions  of  our  race  are  without  a  Father,  even  in 
heaven.  Thus  it  is  apparent,  that  if  the  author 
was  professedly  a  Christian  when  he  expressed 
this  sentiment,  his  transition  to  the  dark  and 
cheerless  gulf  of  atheism,  is  not  merely  natural 
and  easy,  but  absolutely  inevitable. 

Again,  he  proceeds  to  affirm,  in  the  same  style 
of  dogmatism,  that  "  God  does  not  now,  impart 
the  special  influence  of  his  Spirit  to  a  few  indi- 
viduals, and  at  particular  times,  as  is  claimed  by 
modern  revivalists."     By  the  introduction  of  the 
word  now,  he  avoids  the  denial  of  the  scriptural 
narrative  as  to  the  events  there  related,  and  seem- 
ingly admits  thatformcrhj  the  Spirit  was  given,  as 
claimed.     But  he  overlooks  the  fact,  that  he  does 
as  effectually  contradict  the  Bible,  by  denying 
the  fulfilment  of  its  prophecies  and  promises,  in 
these  latter  days.     Either  the  Spirit  of  God  influ- 
ences the  hearts  of  men  now,  or  it  does  not.     If 
it  does  not,  the  Bible  is  a  "cunningly  devised  fa- 
ble," and  if  it  does,  then  if  it  influences  any  indi- 
viduals, it  must  be  "  special;''  nay,  it  must  be  im- 
parted to  some  "particular  individuals,  and  at 


172  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

particular  times"  if  ever,  unless  indeed,  he  con- 
tends that  the  impartation  of  the  Spirit  is  univer- 
sally the  same  upon  all  men,  in  its  nature,  extent, 
and  fruits.  This  he  would  scarcely  venture  to 
affirm  ;  and  if  he  did,  a  single  glance  at  the  con- 
dition of  the  world,  as  shown  in  his  own  book, 
would  convict  him  of  egregious  folly.  We  need 
hardly  remind  the  reader  of  the  positive  assu- 
rances given  by  Christ  to  his  disciples,  of  "  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  and  that  He  would  "  send 
the  Comforter,"  who  would  abide  with  His  church 
forever.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  ex- 
plicit language  of  the  Savior,  in  explaining  to 
Nicodemus  this  "  special  influence"  in  regenera- 
tion. "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  thou 
hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence 
it  Cometh  nor  whither  it  goeth — so  is  every  one 
that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  Here  we  are  distinct- 
ly taught  that  "  the  special  influence  of  the  Spirit" 
is  *'  imparted  to  particular  persons,  and  at  par- 
ticular times,  as  claimed  by  modern  revivalists;" 
unless  the  doctrine  of  the  new  birth  is  to  be  re- 
jected as  superannuate,  and  the  author  would  have 
us  believe  that  this  too  is  obsolete.  But  this  sin- 
gle text  demonstrates  that  men  are  at  present 
under  a  "  miraculous  dispensation  ;"  that  ''  God 
has  supernatural  dealings  with  men,"  and  that 
•*  the  special  influence  claimed  is  imparted."  In 
maintaining,  as  the  author  does,  that  this  latter 
doctrine  **  lies  at  the  foundation  of  religious  fanati- 
cism," he  charges  upon  the  word  of  God,  the  en-' 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  173 

tire  book  of  Revelation,  the  origination  of  fanati- 
cism. And  in  deciding  as  he  does,  that  it "  is  not 
essential  to  Christian  faith  or  conduct,"  he  pro- 
claims himself  wiser  than  the  Bible  or  the  God  of 
the  Bible !  A  lamentable  confirmation  of  the 
inspired  truth,  that  "the  natural  man  receiveth 
not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  because  they 
are  foolishness  to  him,  neither  can  heJcnoiv  themP* 

We  now  pass  to  the  fourth  proposition  of  this 
summary ;  and,  in  reply,  we  think  it  has  been 
shown,  that  the  author  utterly  fails  in  his  labored 
effort  at  proof,  and  furnishes  no  shadow  of  evi- 
dence that  the  numerous  meetings  for  religious 
purposes,  of  which  he  complains,  injure  the 
health,  and  much  less  has  he  been  able  to  prove  that 
they  "  cause  insanity  and  other  diseases."  That 
they  are  either  "  unscriptural"  or  "  unreasonable 
in  this  age,"  we  trust  has  been  satisfactorily  dis- 
proved. And  indeed,  every  portion  of  this  posi- 
tion has  been  so  fully  considered  in  another  place, 
that  we  forbear  to  enlarge. 

His  fifth  opinion,  in  relation  to  the  Sabbath,  is 
aimed  at  all  religious  assemblies,  and  is  designed 
to  oppose  all  "  church  going,"  "  sermon  hearing 
or  reading,"  as  a  disregard  of  this  day  of  rest. 
But  while  he  thinks  it  ought  to  be  regarded  as 
such  both  by  man  and  beast,  yet  he  denies  that  it 
was  divinely  instituted  as  a  day  of  rest,  much  less 
for  religious  observances.  Indeed,  he  has  no  ob- 
jection to  the  violation  of  this  rest  both  by   man 

15* 


M 


174  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

and  beast,  if  the  riding  is  for  recreation  and  "  visit- 
ing friends,"  instead  of  "  church  going."  The 
reader  will  find  this  subject  sufficiently  noticed  in 
its  appropriate  place. 

The  sixth  and  last  proposition  is  the  most 
extraordinary  exhibition  of  inconsistency,  and 
though  designed  as  a  saving  clause,  yet  in  the 
connection  in  which  it  is  found,  is  superlatively 
stupid.  After  objecting  to  all  religious  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  whatsoever  kind,  as  "  unscriptural 
and  unreasonable  in  this  age,"  and  indulging  in  a 
satirical  strain  of  ridicule  in  relation  to  every  form 
of  devotion,  he  here  admits,  that  "  religious  wor- 
ship and  the  cultivation  of  devotional  feelings  are 
beneficial  to  men,  when  not  carried  to  an  unrcason- 
aUe  exleyity  What  kind  of  ^^7'cUgious  worship^ 
could  be  performed  without  '■^ceremonies  of  any 
hind,''^  or  of  what  use  such  worship,  and  the  "  cul- 
tivation of  devotional  feelings,"  could  be,  when 
"  God  has  no  supernatural  dealings  with  men," 
the  author  does  not  condescend  to  enlighten  us, 
though  he  obviously  means  by  their  being  bene- 
ficial, that  they  would  be  healthy,  in  the  way  of 
exercise  to  the  body.  Hence  his  caution  that  this 
exercise  be  "  not  carried  to  an  unreasonable  ex- 
tent," so  as  to  induce  fatigue,  or  "  produce  excite- 
ment," or  in  the  least  to  "  agitate  the  body." 
When  these  effects  are  produced,  then  worship 
and  devotional  feelings  become  unreasonable. 
The  note  which  he  appends,  from  "a celebrated 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  175 

philosopher,"  and  which  he  leaves  untranslated, 
may  be  thus  rendered  : 

"  Devotion  is  an  ojnate  to  the  soul ;  it  excites, 
animates,  and  sustains,  when  taken  m  small  quan- 
tities ;  but  too  strong  a  dose  produces  stupor,  mad- 
ness, or  death  !" 

Tiiis  quotation  is  introduced  in  illustration  of 
the  sentiment  of  the  author,  as  expressed  in  his 
sixth  and  last  proposition.  It  is  obviously  equiv- 
alent to  the  declaration  that  the  influence  of  reli- 
gion is  purely  and  exclusively  j9 A T/szVa/,  analogous 
to  that  of  opium  or  any  other  similar  narcotic, 
precisely  as  set  forth  in  the  argument  to  which 
allusion  has  been  made,  in  relation  to  the  resem- 
blance between  the  effects  of  religious  excitement 
upon  the  hrain,  and  those  of  alcohol  upon  the 
stomach.  And  that  this  is  unsophisticated  materi- 
alism and  infidelity,  will  not  admit  of  denial  or 
doubt.  It  represents  religion,  or  what  he  regards 
as  synonymous,  the  religious  sentiment,  to  be 
*' implanted  in  man  by  his  Creator,"  and  when 
taken  "  in  small  quantities"  to  be  healthy,  since  it 
only  "  excites,  animates,  and  sustains ;"  but  if 
used  in  "  too  strong  a  dose,"  like  opium,  it  is  not 
only  unwholesome,  but  "produces  stupor,  mad- 
ness, and  death."  He  forgets,  however,  to  fur- 
nish any  criterion,  by  which  we  may  decide  what 
is  the  proper  "  dose,"  or  degree  of  excitement 
which  is  salutary  and  safe,  unless  by  the  expres- 
sion, "  when  not  carried  to  an  unreasonable  ex- 


176  REVIEW   OF    DR.    BRIGHAM. 

tent,"  which  is  a  most  ambiguous  and  uncertain 
direction  truly,  and  one  utterly  unintelligible. 

But  if  we  would  examine  his  analogy  philo- 
sophically, we  must  remember  that  the  effect  of 
opium  when  it  excites,  and  which  effect  is  repre- 
sented to  be  rational  and  healthy,  is  not  only  un- 
natural and  artificial,  but  is  essentially  morbid, 
because  produced  by  a  iwisonous  agent,  and  this 
is  true  of  any  quantity,  however  small,  provided 
it  be  sufficient  to  "  excite,  animate,  and  sustain." 
And  when  too  strong  a  dose  be  used,  it  does  in- 
deed "  produce  stupor,  madness,  and  death," 
because  it  is  a  poison,  unnatural,  morbific,  and 
fatal  in  its  nature  and  effects.  And  yet,  religion 
is  here  represented  to  be  "  opium  for  the  soul,"  an 
unnatural  poison,  which  may  be  used  in  small 
quantities,  with  no  other  ill  effects  than  "  excite- 
ment," which,  on  the  subject  of  religion,  is  repre- 
sented to  be  exceedingly  dangerous  ;  for  when 
taken  in  too  strong  a  dose,  it  results  in  "stupor, 
madness, and  death."  Surely  those  who  entertain 
this  doctrine  for  a  moment,  will  perceive  that  in- 
stead of  a  caution  against  indulging  in  this  moral 
opium  "  to  an  unreasonable  extent,"  the  dictate 
of  wisdom  will  obviously  be  to  "  flee  from"  reli- 
gion, "  as  from  the  face  of  a  serpent,"  and 
"  neither  touch,  taste  nor  handle  the  accursed 
thing." 

Soberly,  if  the  author  has  fully  adopted  this 
creed,  he  ought  not  to  content  himself  with  writing 
this  book,  for  humanity  and  philanthropy  should 


REVIEW    OF    DR.    BRIGHAM.  177 

constrain  him  to  a  mightier  effort  for  the  reforma- 
tion and  salvation  of  his  fellow  beinos.  He  should 
forthwith  institute  an  American  and  Foreign  An- 
ti-religion Society,  and  by  multiplying  branches 
of  it  all  over  the  world,  he  should  rival  the  great 
Temperance  enterprize,  in  zeal  and  exertions. 
Let  him  organize  the  society  under  a  pledge  of 
*'  total  abstinence"  from  all  religion,  as  the  only 
moral  engine  sufficiently  potent  to  preserve  the 
human  race  from  utter  extermination.  If  it  were 
not  presumptive  to  dictate  to  so  great  and  puissant 
a  reformer,  we  would  recommend  a  pledge  some- 
what like  the  following : 

Whereas,  "  devotion  is  opium  for  the  soul,"  and 
"  religion  is  one  of  the  most  fruitful  sources  of  in- 
sanity, convulsions,  and  death ;"  and  whereas, 
*'  God  has  no  supernatural  dealings  with  men," 
and  '' Christ  established  no  ceremonies  at  all;" 
and  whereas,  "  numerous  meetings  for  religious 
purposes  are  unscriptural  and  very  unreasonable 
in  this  age,"  because  they  "  produce  excitement 
most  dangerous  to  health  and  life,  especially  to 
females,  to  mothers  and  the  rising  generation ;" 
and  whereas,  the  Sabbath  is  a  day  of  rest  for 
man  and  beast ;  and  the  ringing  of  church  bells 
on  that  day,  is  injurious  to  health  and  life  : 

We,  the  undersigned,  hereby  pledge  ourselves 
that  we  will  wholly  abstain  from  all  religion,  inclu- 
ding among  the  fruits  of  this  moral  '*  opium"  all 


178  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGIIAM. 

*'  church  goings  inalm  singing y  sermon  hearing  or 
reading,  lirotracted  meetings,  night  meetings,  sunrise 
jyrayer  meetings,  camp  meetings,  baptism,  the  Lord's 
Supper,  ringing  of  hells,  forms,  rites  or  ceremonies,'''' 
which  are  "  for  religious  purposes;"  and  believ- 
in Of  that  the  dansiers  of  "carryinsf  devotion  to  an 
unreasonable  extent,"  and  taking  "  too  strong  a 
dose,"  can  never  be  avoided,  until  religion  and  all 
its  means  of  "  excitement  are  abandoned,"  we 
will  use  our  influence  to  inculcate  "  total  absti- 
nencfi'''  from  it  among  the  comiuunlLj. 

Such  appears  to  us  to  be  an  outline  of  the  mea- 
gures  which  Dr.  Brigham  is  imperiously  called 
upon  to  adopt,  on  the  presumption  that  the  doc- 
trines he  here  teaches,  are  entitled  to  his  own  be- 
lief and  confidence.  Surely  if  a  moiety  of  the 
spectres  he  has  conjured  up,  wherewith  to  portray 
the  dire  calamities,  with  which  religion  is  peren- 
nially cursing  our  race,  have  any  existence  other 
than  in  his  morbidly  vivid  imagination,  he  should 
forthwith  proclaim  a  war  of  extermination  against 
this  giant  evil,  and  labor  without  weariness,  and 
without  rest,  for  its  immediate,  instant  abolition. 
Nor  need  he  "  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  pro- 
selytes ;"  for  he  will  find  them  ready  made  to  his 
hand,  wherever  the  "  carnnl  mind,  which  is  enmi- 
ty against  God"  is  discoverable,  there  will  his 
pledge  be  adopted  by  acclamation.  "  Wide  is 
the  gate  and  broad  is  the  wa}^  and  many  there  be 
which  go  in  thereat."     "  A  great  multitude  which 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  179 

no  man  can  number,"  in  every  nation,  kindred, 
people,  and  tongue  ;  in  every  city,  town,  village, 
and  settlement  in  this  and  every  other  country, 
will  spontaneously  marshal  themselves  under  his 
banner,  and  his  society  will  be  the  most  numerous 
under  heaven.  In  the  membership  of  this  Anti- 
religion  Society,  he  may  calculate,  in  anticipa- 
tion, on  the  great  army  of  infidels  of  every  grade, 
and  all  the  profligate  and  abandoned,  the  profane 
and  the  ungodly,  the  blaspheming  and  the  drun- 
ken ;  for  all  these  will  be  ex-officio  entitled  to 
recognition,  since  they  already  practise  on  the 
principle  of  total  abstinence  from  all  religion,  and 
will  not  need  to  sign  the  pledge,  since  their  pre- 
tensions will  not  be  questioned,  nor  is  there  any 
danger  of  their  being  suspected  of  its  violation. 
But,  alas  !  he  will  find  ready  access  for  books  and. 
newspapers  and  agents  of  this  anti-religious  cru- 
sade, among  the  sons  and  daughters  of  folly  and 
fashion,  the  worldly  and  the  formalists,  the  mo- 
ralists and  the  hypocrites,  and  all  who  are  forget- 
ting God,  and  neglecting  their  souls;  who  restrain 
prayer,  and  delay  repentance  ;  and  who  seek  and 
need  just  such  arguments  as  he  urges,  to  quiet 
conscience,  and  arm  them  against  the  truth.  And 
the  rising  generation,  whose  licentious  passions 
cannot  brook  restraint,  multitudes  of  whom  desire 
deliverance  from  the  bonds,  which  religious  edu- 
cation has  imposed,  that  they  may  "throw  the 


ISO  REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM. 

reins  upon  the  neck  of  headlong  appetite,"  will 
find  an  asylum  in  the  Anti- religion  society  which 
they  have  heretofore  sought  in  vain, 

But  we  forbear  to  dwell  upon  the  deplorable 
moral  influence,  which  the  sentiments  under  no- 
tice, are  calculated  to  exert  upon  individuals,  and 
upon  the  community.     And  it  is  with  the  hum- 
ble hope  of  contributing  in  some  measure  to  coun- 
teract their  pernicious  and  mischievous  tendency, 
that  these  strictures  have  been  prepared  for  pub- 
lication.    It  is  true  that  the  author  has  expressed 
his  confidence  that  all  the  ''''  intellig-ent'^  members 
of  the   medical  profession,  will  approve  of  the 
medical  doctrines  he  has  advanced  ;  and  the  fact 
that  we  gainsay  them,  and  attempt  to  prove  that 
they  are  fallacious  and  unphilosophical,  will  in- 
volve in  his  estimation  the  forfeiture  of  our  claim 
to  be  ranked  among  "  intelligent"  men;  yet,  at  the 
expense  of  being  denounced  in  the  elegant  language 
selected  by  himself,  as   "muddle  pated,   narrow 
minded,  bigoted,  enthusiastic,  and  perhaps  hypo- 
critical;" and  at  the  risk  of  being  written  down 
among  "the  psalm    singers  of   the  profession," 
who  "  if  sincere  are  fools,  and  if  not  so  rogues," 
we  have  ventured  upon  this  feeble  eflbrt  to  expose 
error,  and  to  vindicate  truth,   especially   as  the 
subject  is  one  which  involves  tlie  immortal  hopes 
and  everlasting  destinies  of  men.      And  firmly 
believing  as  we  do,  that  the  religion  of  Christ  is  a 
Divine  reality,  however   unworthy  to   bear  His 


REVIEW  OF  DR.  BRIGHAM.  ISl 

name,  we  are  not  ashamed  to  confess  our  faith  in 
the  "special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  with 
as  much  confidence  as  in  a  "  special  Providence," 
both  of  which  doctrines  we  hold  on  the  testimony 
of  inspiration.  With  such  belief,  whether  true  or 
false,  the  Divine  guidance  has  been  sought,  and 
the  Divine  blessing  is  now  implored  upon  the 
present  publication  ;  and  though  Dr.  Brigham's 
creed  may  constrain  him  to  despise  us  therefoi', 
yet  for  none  is  that  blessing  sought  more  devoutly 
than  for  him,  that  he  may  be  "  converted  from  the 
error  of  his  way,"  by  the  agency  of  that  Holy 
Spirit,  whom  he  contemns,  and  whose  "  special 
influence"  he  denies.  That  truth  may  be  promo- 
ted, and  the  cause  of  religion  advanced,  is  of  in- 
finitely more  importance  than  the  decision  of  the 
question  of  the  comparative  qualifications  of  the 
disputants.  This  reply,  therefore,  is  issued  from 
the  press,  without  any  overweening  anxiety  as  to 
the  fate  of  the  author  among  the  critics  of  the  day. 
If  it  shall  be  useful  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of 
men,  and  in  any  measure  prevent  the  disastrous 
results  which  flow  from  infidelity  and  irreligion, 
he  will  deem  self  an  insignificant  sacrifice  in  a 
cause  so  exalted. 


16 


APPENDIX 


In  the  vindication  of  religion  from  the  allegations  of 
Dr.  Brigham,    which  is  attempted    in    the    preceding 
pages,  and  which  indeed  is  the  leading  design  of  the 
present  review,  the   author  has  taken  occasion  to  show 
that  the  infidel  and  irreligious  tendencies  of  the  senti- 
msnts  upon  v/nich  he  has  animadverted,  are  the  legiti- 
mate fruits  of  Phrenology.     But  those  of  the  sect,  who 
retain  their  respect  for  the  "  science,  falsely  so  called," 
and  at  .the  same  time  adhere  to  their  faith  in  evangeli- 
cal  religion,  will  deny  the  conclusion  to  which  we  have 
labored  to  bring  the  reader,  and  maintain  that  we  have 
only  proved  that  infidels  are  attempting  to  make  the 
system  tributary  to  their  unhallowed  purposes.     Such 
we  know  has  been  uniform.ly  the  employment  of  sceptics 
in  every  age,  and  no  sooner  has  any  new  discovery  in 
science,  or  new  system  of  philosophy  been  announced, 
than  they  at  once  aim  to  bring  it  into  their  service  ; 
and  profess,  however  absurdly,  to  derive  valuable  con- 
tributions to  their  cause,  from    every  improvement  in 
physics,  which    the  genius  or   industry  of  man  is  deve- 
loping.    But,  however  plausibly  this  opinion  maj^  be 
urged,  by  those  who  agree  with  the  strictures  of  the 
present  volume,  so  far  as  to  unite  in  reprobating  the  in- 
fidel and  irreligious  tendencies  of  the  work  under  notice, 
and  yet  allege  these  to  be  perversions  of  phrenology, 


184  APPENDIX. 

rather  than  exhibitions  of  its  nature  and  tendency  ;  we 
must  still  maintain  the  opinions  we  have  expressed, 
and  for  their  proof,  we  have  thought  proper  to  add  the 
present  brief  appendix,  the  design  of  which  is  to  ac- 
quaint the  reader  with  the  true  character  of  the 
"science,"  that  he  may  form  his  own  estimate  of  the 
moral  tendencies  which  we  have  ascribed  to  it. 

Phrenology,  as  the  system  is  now  designated,  has 
been  modernized,*  and  introduced  formally  to  public 
attention,  chiefly  through  the  labors  of  Dr.  Gall,  and 
was  called  by  him  cranioscopy,  craniology^  organology, 
cranognomony  and  cephalology  ;  though  the  term  phre- 
nology is  now  generally  adopted  by  the  unanimous  con- 
sent of  his  disciples.  He  designs  by  the  term  cranios- 
copy  or  phrenolog}^,  to  designate  a  new  system  of 
mental  philosophy,  including  the  functions  of  the  brain, 
as  well  as  all  the  faculties,  propensities,  and  sentiments  : 
and  one  which  shall  be  alike  applicable  to  man  and  all 
other  animals,  and  he  builds  his  whole  fabric  on  the  fol- 
lowing four  "  primordial  ideas,"  viz. 

1st.  "  All  the  instincts,  propensities,  intellectual  fa- 
culties, and  moral  qualities  of  man  and  animals,  are 
innate.^' 

2nd.  "  That  the  exercise  or  use  of  all  these,  what- 
ever may  be  the  principle  from  which  they  are  derived, 
is  subject  to  the  influence  of  material  and  organic  con- 
ditions." 


*  I  say  modernized,  for  an  analogous  system  was  propagated 
centuries  before  him,  and  busts,  with  the  supposed  seats  of  the 
various  faculties  marked,  were  engraved  and  published.  The 
gross  materialism  of  the  theory,  however,  very  soon  consigned 
it  to  oblivion. 


APPENDIX.  185 

3rd.  "  That  the  brain  is  the  organ  of  all  our  instincts, 
propensities,  sentiments,  aptitudes,  inteliectual  faculties, 
and  moral  qualities. ^^ 

4th.  "That  each  of  our  instincts,  propensities,  sen- 
timents, talents,  intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  has  a 
portion  of  the  brain,  which  is  specially  appropriated  to 
it ;  a  delenninate  seat,  and  that  the  developement  of  these 
different  parts,  which  form  so  many  small  brains,  or  par- 
ticular organs,  is  manifested  on  the  external  surface  of 
the  cranium,  by  visible  and  palpable  signs  or  prolube- 
ranees,  so  that  by  the  examination  of  these  protuberances 
or  cranioscopic  elevations,  the  dispositions,  and  intellec- 
tual  and  moral  qualities,  peculiar  to  every  individual, 
may  be  ascertained." 

In  these  four  "  primordial  ideas,"  the  reader  has  a 
sketch  of  the  fundamental  principles  upon  which  Dr. 
Gall  founded  his  system,  and  in  the  progress  of  the 
science  to  the  present  day,  they  have  not  been  essential- 
ly modified.  The  arguments  by  which  his  disciples 
have  labored  to  render  these  principles  plausible  are 
various,  and  drawn  from  anatomy,  physiology,  and  meta- 
physics. The  intricate  and  complicated  structure  of 
the  brain,  and  particularly  its  elaborate  and  mysterious 
convolutions,  are  regarded  as  proofs  that  so  beautiful 
and  inexplicable  an  organization,  renders  it  both  ra- 
tional  and  probable,  that  its  different  parts  must  be  des- 
tined for  special  and  determinate  functions.  And  if  we 
refer  the  whole  of  the  impressions  made  upon  the  mind, 
through  the  medium  of  the  nerves  to  any  central  or 
given  point  of  the  brain,  it  is  alleged  that  we  can  con- 
ceive  no  possible  use  for  the  remaining  parts  of  that 
oro-an.  The  partial  loss  of  the  mental  faculties,  which 
10* 


186  APPENDIX. 

sometimes  occurs,  from  disease  or  injury  of  the  brain, 
is  maintained  to  favor  the  doctrine  that  these  faculties 
are  distributed  over  different  parts  of  that  organ.  While 
the  fact,  that  the  various  nerves  connected  with  the  or- 
gans of  sense,  perform  essentially  different  offices,  is 
urged  as  an  analogical  argument  in  proof,  that  the  dif- 
ferent convolutions  of  the  brain  are  the  organs  of  the 
respective  mental  functions.  And  again,  it  is  main- 
tained, that  the  perfection  of  the  brain  corresponds  to 
the  state  of  the  mental  faculties  in  the  different  periods 
of  life ;  and  a  necessary  connexion  must  be  supposed 
between  these  circumstances.  While  the  difference  in 
the  form  and  size  of  the  brain  and  its  respective  partsj 
which  is  so  obvious  in  different  individuals  and  animals, 
renders  it  plausible  to  suppose  this  to  be  the  cause  of  the 
differences  which  exist  in  the  faculties.  And  it  is  still 
further  urged,  that  when  the  exercise  of  the  mental 
powers  is  attended  with  fatigue,  this  sensation  is  only 
felt  in  a  particular  spot,  which  implies  that  the  faculty 
which  1ms  been  exercised  is  confined  to  that  particular 
portion  of  the  brain.  And  the  innate  nature  of  all  the 
dispositions  and  mental  faculties,  which  is  presupposed 
by  the  system,  it  is  argued,  proves  that  they  must  be 
attached  to  different  organs,  unless  we  deny  that  they 
exist  in  different  proportions  in  different  individuals. 

Such  are  the  principal  arguments  by  which  modern 
phrenologists  labor  to  sustain  their  favorite  theory  ;  and 
with  these,  as  well  as  the  "  primordial  ideas"  of  Dr. 
Gall  before  the  reader,  he  may  form  an  accurate  con- 
ception of  the  system,  and  be  able  to  understand  the 
authorities  for  the  "  map  of  regions,"  which  has  been 
laid  down  on  the  surface  of  the  head,  by  which  the  va- 
rious faculties  and  propensities  are  located.     This  may 


APPENDIX.  187 

be  seen  in  the  various  busts  and  drawings,  which  are 
sufficiently  numerous  in  every  part  of  the  country,  and 
which  are  potent  in  making  uninitiated  rustics  stare  and 
wonder  at  the  mysteries  of  the  philosophy  of  their  own 
brains. 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  Phrenology  is  only  an 
extension  of  the  science  of  Physiognomy,  though  pos- 
sessing infinitely  less  philosophy  and  truth.     For  while 
Lavater  interpreted  the   expression  and   form  of   the 
countenance,  as  indicative  of  the  mental  constitution  and 
character,  yet  he  relied  upon  the   visible   and  tangible 
action  of  the  muscles  of  the  face,  which,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, are   acknowledged  to  be  under  the  influence  of 
volition  and  habit.     But  Dr.  Gall  relies  upon  the  invisi- 
ble  and  intangible  action,  which  he  gratuitously  sup- 
poses the   brain   to  perform,   and  which,   if   it    really 
existed,  must  necessarily  be  unappreciable,  because  of 
the  solidity  and  thickness  of  the  bones  of  the  cranium, 
after  the  age  of  puberty,  although  he  and  his  disciples 
contend  for  the  validity  of  their  maps  of  developments, 
durino-  every  period  of  life,  even  to  advanced  age.  And 
the  important  circumstance,  so  often  mentioned,  that  the 
departments  of  the  brain,  which  Phrenology  designates 
with  so  much  accuracy  and  minuteness,  neither  agree 
with  the  natural  divisions  of  the  brain,  which  are  so  re- 
markable, nor  with  the   metaphysical  classification   of 
the  mental  phenomena,  has  neither  been  gainsayed  nor 
refuted. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  analyze  the  principles  of 
the  science,  or  examine  the  arguments  by  which  its  pro- 
fessors aim  to  support  it  with  any  minuteness,  as  this 
would  be  foreign  from  the  design  of  this  appendix ;  nor 
is  it  at  all  desirable  or  necessary,  as  will  presently  ap- 


18S  APPENDIX. 

pear.  For  even,  on  the  admission  of  the  whole  of  the 
"primordial  ideas"  we  have  named,  though  the  third  in 
the  order  they  stand,  is  the  only  one  which  has  any 
share  of  plausibility  or  truth,  still  it  would  be  easy  to 
show  that  the  artificial  division  and  appropriation  of  the 
functions,  to  distinct  localities,  as  taught  by  Phrenology, 
is  wholly  arbitrary  and  fictitious.  This  will  be  obvious, 
when  the  reader  is  informed  that  the  first  grand  disco- 
very of  Dr.  Gall,  and  which  has  led  to  the  whole  of 
the  numbers  and  localities  which  tiie  maps  of  the  re- 
gions exhibit,  as  subsequently  laid  down  by  himself  and 
others,  was  made  under  the  following  circumstances. 
He  observed,  while  yet  at  school,  that  all  his  fellows 
who  were  distinguished  at  the  public  examinations,  were 
indebted  for  their  success  to  an  extraordinary  memory^ 
and  that  they  all  had  very  prominent  eyes.  This  re- 
markable coincidence,  led  him  irresistibly  to  the  con- 
clusion, that  there  must  be  some  mysterious  connection 
between  a  good  memory  and  a  'protrusion  of  the  eye-halls 
from  the  socket,  such  as  that  for  which  some  persons 
are  so  remarkable.  And,  on  this  momentous  thought 
having  taken  possession  of  his  brain,  at  once  he  leaped 
to  the  still  farther  conclusion,  that  every  other  faculty 
must  be  connected  with  other  external  conformations. 

But  for  this  accidental  discovery  of  the  organ  of 
memory,hQ\ng  located  in  the  eyes,  and  its  perfection  be- 
ing developed  by  their  size  and  jirominence,  the  world 
might  have  yet  been  in  the  dark  v.  hether  we  had  any 
"  organs,"  nor  shoukl  v/e  be  possessed  of  a  map  of  our 
own  brains,  which  is  now,  thanks  to  Dr.  Call,  the  privi- 
leo-e  of  every  man  and  woman  in  Christendom. 

But  while  Dr.  Gall  located  this  organ  of  memory  in 
the  eves,  his  pupil,  Dr.  Spurzheim,  denominates  it  "the 


APPENDIX.  189 

organ  of  language,"  by  which  term  he  means  to  convey 
the  idea,  that  "  prominent  eyes"  indicate  not  only  phi- 
lological memory,  but  an  aptitude  for  the  study  of  lan- 
guages. All  phrenologists  agree  in  attributing  the 
faculty  of  speech,  and  the  power  of  articulating  sounds 
to  the  eyes,  and  great  skill  in  the  use  of  language  to  their 
prominence.  And  Dr.  Gall  used  to  exhibit  in  proof  of 
this  ridiculous  conceit,  the  cranium  of  a  lunatic  who 
was  unable  to  articulate  words,  in  which  the  roofs  of 
the  orbits  were  arched,  and  this  organ  small,  or,  in  other 
words,  the  eyes  were  not  prominent. 

As  this  faculty  is  avowedly  the  origin  of  all  the  dis- 
coveries made  by  Gall,  and  the  cause  of  all  his 
researches,  as  well  as  the  foundation  of  the  whole 
science  of  Phrenology,  the  reader  who  will  acquaint 
himself  with  the  anatomy  of  the  eye,  and  the  causes  of 
its  prominence,  may  readily  satisfy  himself  that  this 
**  corner  stone"  of  the  entire  edifice  is  a  mere  fiction  and 
fable.  Nor  can  he  persuade  himself  to  believe  that  the 
structure  and  relative  position  of  the  human  eye,  while  it 
is  so  admirably  adapted  by  the  Creator  for  the  purposes 
of  vision,  is  at  the  same  time  designed  to  impart  the 
faculty  of  speech,  and  the  articulation  of  sounds,  for 
which  it  has  no  degree  of  adaptation,  while  locally  dis- 
connected with  those  organs,  whose  elaborate  structure 
indicates  their  design  and  use  for  this  important  and 
essentially  different  function.  And  yet  all  the  phrenolo- 
gical authorities  will  be  found  to  inculcate  the  doctrine, 
that  "  large  and  prominent  eyes"  indicate  the  develop- 
ment of  "  the  organ  of  memory  and  language,"  though 
Spurzheim  is  so  very  particular  as  to  inform  us  that  for 
the  perfection  of  this  organ  we  are  to  look,  not  merely 
for  "large  and  prominent  eyes,  but  at  the  same  timCj 


190  APPENDIX. 

pressed,  as  it  were  !  towards  the  lower  part  of  the  orbit," 
a  coincidence  which  will  be  found  in  practice  to  be  as 
scarce  as  instances  of  ivhitc  croics.  This  appendage  of 
Spurzheim,  appears  to  have  been  designed  to  meet  the 
objections  to  the  science  which  were  constantly  multi- 
plying  upon  the  hands  of  practitioners  in  this  art  and 
mystery,  who  found  thousands  of  examples,  in  which 
"  large  and  prominent  eyes,"  were  connected  with  a 
deficiency  both  in  *' memory  and  language."  He,  there- 
fore, adds  to  the  description  of  the  organ  that  the  "large 
and  prominent  eyes  must,  at  the  same  time,  be  pressed 
towards  the  lower  part  of  the  orbit,"  and  the  convenient 
words  "  as  it  loere,^^  are  parenthetically  introduced  for 
wise  and  obvious  purposes.  With  such  an  equivocal 
delliiition  of  signs,  a  common  fortune  teller  would  rival 
the  most  acute  phrenologist  in  developing  character. 
And,  we  need  hardly  add,  that  as  the  "  science"  is  as 
applicable  to  all  other  animals  as  man,  that  no  human 
example  of  the  perfect  development  of  "  the  organ  of 
languages  and  memory"  can  be  produced,  which  will 
at  all  compare  with  the  claims  possessed  by  an  Owl. 

We  have  dwelt  a  moment  on  this  first  discovery  of 
Dr.  Gall,  because  it  was  the  origin  and  cause  of  all  his 
researches,  the  pri7num  mobile  of  the  whole  machinery 
of  the  system.  And  as  this  philosopher  was  impelled 
by  so  pure  a  fiction,  to  proceed  in  the  location  of  the 
faculties  and  propensities  in  the  various  parts  of  the 
brain,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  th:U  the  divisions  which 
he  and  his  followers  have  successive -y  discovered,  mark- 
ed,  and  numbered  upon  their  maps  and  casts,  should, 
like  the  first,  be  wholly  arbitrary;  nor  will  it  be  found, 
that  any  one  of  them  possesses  any  greater  claim  to  our 
confidence,   either    drawn   from   philosophy  or  facts, 


APPENDIX.  191 

though  of  the  latter  they  are  ever  proclaiming  them- 
selves the  discoverers  and  inventors,  and  upon  these 
alone  they  profess  to  rely. 

Another  specimen  of  the  facts,  upon  which  Phre- 
nology has  authoritatively  located  the  "  organs"  of  the 
human  mind,  and  an  exhibition  of  the  slender  basis  on 
which  these  localities  rest,  may  be  seen  in  the  "  love  of 
offspring,"  which  Spurzheim  calls  the  propensity  of 
^^ philoprogenitiveness,  and  which  both  he  and  his  illus- 
trious master,  place  in  the  posterior  and  inferior  part  of 
the  head,  and  when  much  developed  forming  a  large 
prominence  above  the  centre  of  the  neck. 

The  reader  must  preserve  his  gravity,  while  the  his- 
tory of  this  "  discovery"  is  thus  accurately  developed 
by  a  distinguished  phrenologist.  "  Dr.  Gall  had  long 
known  that  the  back  part  of  the  head  was  more  promi- 
nent 'm  females,  children,  and  monkeys,  than  in  men,  but 
was  utterly  unable  to  account  for  this  wondrous  fact, 
even  after  he  had  long  believed  and  taught  the  science. 
At  last,  however,  ^iclergyman  who  attended  his  lectures, 
led  him  to  the  true  solution  of  this  problem,  which  had 
so  long  puzzled  his  brains,  by  reminding  him  that  the 
'  love  of  offspring'  was  remarkable  in  women !  and 
female  monkeys  /"  This  striking  collocation  and  astoni- 
shing coincidence,  conclusively  established  the  organ 
of  "  philoprogenitiveness,"  as  it  is  now  called  ;  and  it 
has  since  received  conclusive  confirmation  by  another 
prodigious yac/,  discovered  by  the  lamented  Spurzheim, 
that  it  is  this  organ  which  induces  young  girls  to  play 
with  dolls ! 

Such  are  a  few  examples  of  the  facts  upon  which 
every  "  faculty,  propensity,  and  sentiment"  of  man  and 
all  other  animals,  have  been  laid  down  in  maps  of  the 


192  APPENDIX. 

brain,  with  more  than  mathematical  precision  ;  and  they 
and  their  definite  locaHties  are  now  learnedly  spoken  of 
with  magisterial  authority.  But  we  forbear  to  enlarge 
on  these  several  topics,  and  shall  confine  our  observa- 
tions to  a  few  of  those  which  present  the  science  in  its 
moral  aspect,  and,  as  we  think,  demonstrate  its  infidel 
tendencies.  And  the  first  of  these  we  would  present, 
is  the  ''organ  of  moral  sense,^^  or  ^^  benevolence  ;'^  for 
these  dispositions,  according  to  the  system,  are  owing  to 
the  "  developement"  on  the  "  superior,  anterior  part  of 
the  head,  just  above  the  forehead."  From  the  univer- 
sal presence  of  this  "  organ,"  phrenologists  maintain 
that  "  man  is  naturally  good,'^  and  that  "  the  question  so 
often  agitated  among  philosophers,  whether  man  is  born 
with  a  disposition  to  good  or  evil,"  has  been  settled  de- 
finitely  by  the  "science."  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
say,  that  the  authority  of  revelation  is  here  utterly  re- 
jected, and  the  multiplied  testimonies  of  the  Bible 
denied  ;  nor  need  we  add,  that  the  history  of  every 
nation  under  heaven,  demonstrates  the  fallacy  of  the 
position,  and  of  the  system  which  inculcates  it. 

Immediately  in  a  neighboring  localit}^  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  head,  is  the  "organ  of  marvelhiisness,''''  or 
"  the  love  of  supernatural  ohjeds,^^  while  near  the  crown  of 
the  head  is  the  "  organ  of  theosophy,^^  which  Spurzheim 
divides  into  three  "organs,"  viz.  "  veneration, ^^  '^con- 
scientiousness,^'' and  "  hope.^^  Upon  these  several  organs 
depend,  according  to  the  system,  the  dispositions  to  see 
and  believe  in  visions,  ghosts,  witches,  and  supernatural 
revelations,  together  with  all  belief  in  the  existence  of  a 
God,  all  idea  of  a  Supreme  Being,  all  propensity  to- 
wards  worship,  devotion,  piety,  love  of  God,  idolatry,  &c. 
&c.     And  it  can  scarcely  be  necessary  to  remark,  that 


APPENDIX.  193 

this  single  fact — that  all  these  dissimilar  and  even  oppo- 
site sentiments,  in  which  good  and  evil,  virtue  and  vice, 
reality  and  delusion,  truth  and  falsehood,  are  mingled 
in  heterogeneous  combination,  and  yet  all  ascribed  to 
the  same  "organs"  and  "developments" — is  enough  to 
brand  the  system  which  recognizes  such  absurdity,  not 
merely  with  infidel  character  and  tendency,  but  with 
profound  stupidity  and  folly.  And  to  exhibit  the  immo- 
rality of  such  avileimpostureuponpubliccredulity,  if  it 
were  at  all  needful,  would  be  easy,  by  simply  repeating 
the  opinions  of  Gall  and  Spurzheim,  in  their  arguments 
in  favor  of  the  validity  of  their  designation  of  these 
organs.  Alluding  to  those  who  believe  in  ghosts,  vi- 
sions, and  witches,  and  indeed  in  any  supernatural  reve- 
lations, they  tell  us,  that  "  this  disposition  which  loves 
what  is  astonishing,  mysterious,  or  miraculous,  is  the 
immediate  result  of  a  particular  organization;  and  it 
would  be  as  unjust  to  accuse  those  endowed  with  it,  of 
imposture,  as  it  would  be  to  censure  poets  for  embody^ 
ing  and  personifying  their  ideas,  for  they  are  only  the 
slaves  of  a  too  energetic  action  of  one  part  of  the  brain.^' 
If  this  be  not  sublimated  impiety,  materialism,  and  fa- 
talism, we  know  not  where  these  characteristics  are  to 
be  found  ;  and  that  such  sentiments  annihilate  all  moral 
distinctions  between  truth  and  falsehood,  vice  and  vir- 
tue, is  too  obvious  to  need  comment.  And  yet,  they  go 
on  to  tell  us,  that  in  the  creation  of  the  organ  of  marvel- 
lousness,  nature  had  views  and  intentions,  which  serve 
to  strengthen  our  faith  and  fortify  our  belief,  and  thus 
nature,  not  the  "  God  of  nature,"  is  represented  to  be 
the  "  author  of  faith." 

But,   in  relation  to   the    "  organ  of  theosophy,"  or 
veneration,"  these  phrenologists  more  distinctly  disclose 
17 


194  APPENDIX. 

their  gross  and  unmingled  atheism.  Here  we  are 
taught  that  *'  some  persons,  for  want  of  this  organ,  have 
no  capacity  for  rehgious  instruction,  while  others,  who 
possess  the  organ,  receive  it  with  the  greatest  eager- 
ness ;"  and  surely  if  there  be  those  who  have  "  no  ca- 
pacity" for  religion,  because  of  their  "  physical  organi- 
zation," their  accountability  is  annihilated,  and  those 
who  are  religious,  because  of  a  different  organization, 
are  equally  victims  of  uncontrollable  destiny,  nor  can 
virtue  or  vice  be  predicated  in  either  case.  Indeed,  all 
this  and  more,  is  unblushingly  avowed  ;  for  they  affirm 
that  "  our  ideas  on  all  subjects  depend  on  our  being  fur- 
nished with  organs  to  originate,  or  to  give  birth  to  them, 
and  we  have  an  idea  of  God,  as  we  have  love  of  off- 
spring, benevolence,  &c.,  because  we  have  an  organ 
fitted  for  such  a  purpose."  And  still  they  maintain  that 
man  wherever  he  is  found  has  the  "organ  of  theosophy," 
and  hence  a  "sentiment  of  the  existence  of  the  Divini- 
ty is  innate,  and  inherent  in  our  nature.^^  And  yet  they 
add,  that  there  is  a  great  difference  between  this  senti- 
ment and  the  revelations,  dogmas,  mysteries,  dec,  of 
different  religious  sects.  And  it  is  obvious,  that  the 
revelations  of  Christianity,  and  of  the  Bible,  are  here 
aimed  at  as  among  the  religious  sects,  whose  dogmas 
and  mysteries  Phrenology  disclaims.  This  disclaimer 
might  have  been  spared,  however,  since  there  is  a  mu- 
tual and  irrepressible  repulsion,  which  must  eternally 
separate  Phrenology  from  Christianity ;  and,  we  think, 
sufficient  evidence  is  now  before  the  reader,  that  from 
the  nature  of  this  science,  falsely  so  called,  its  votaries 
must  not  only  believe  ours  to  be  literally  "  a  world  with, 
out  souls"  but  equally  "  without  God." 

The  source  whence  Dr.  Brigham  derived  the  philo- 


APPENDIX.  195 

sopliy  and  creed,  under  the  malign  influence  of  which 
his  book  was  written,  is  now  plainly  before  the  reader, 
as  well  as  the  proof  of  our  allegations,  that  the  evil 
genius  of  Phrenology,  like  a  mighty  incubus,  sits  en- 
throned upon  his  soul. 


